Transitions
by amalspach
Summary: When Rose impulsively decides to reconnect with Albus, she never imagined it would result in becoming friends with Scorpius Malfoy. In other words, a series of transitions in which Rose and Scorpius go from utter strangers to something beyond. Will contain 5 parts.
1. Friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series or any of its characters, I swear. If not, I would be super wealthy and I wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again.**

 **On that note, this is my second Scorpius x Rose fic as well as my second fanfic in this universe, so please don't judge me too harshly. I've been trying to write for fandoms that are a lot less popular as of late. I may not be the best at it, but I write for those worlds because those pairings deserve some love, too. Seriously,** ** _The Emerald Atlas_** **and** ** _Etiquette and Espionage_** **are some of the best books ever, and yet their fanbase on is practically nonexistent. I could count on one hand the amount of decent fics each of them have; 2 for the first, 3 for the second.**

 **What can I say? I read too many books. I need to join some more popular fandoms.**

 **Also, I am working on a bunch of oneshots for Miraculous Ladybug and Magnus Chase, along with a requested SVTFOE story. I also have a Zootopia thing I _really_ need to update, but haven't gotten around to yet. I haven't abandoned anything though, I swear. The Miraculous Ladybug thing is really my biggest concern, though - it was mentally projected to be a 40k undertaking, but it's already about 20k long and it's not even a third of the way completed. So now I am guessing the story - which is now going to be called Team Miraculous - will be out in a month or two and is going to be around 60k to (at most) 100k. **

**In short, I am _exhausted_. I apologize in advance if this is absolutely horrible because of those things. If it is OOC or stupid or doesn't flow right, there you have it. I tried. **

**Anyways, with that in mind, there is my lengthy excuse, which should cushion the blow in case I do terribly. On the slight chance that you are still reading this intro, this story will consist of 5 parts and** ** _maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe_** **an epilogue if I feel up to it.**

 **Welp. Now that we're done with that, let the fic begin!**

* * *

When Rose was little, she and Albus used to be very close.

Well, not _just_ her and Albus. Of course, there was Lily and James, and she couldn't exactly forget about Hugo, her little brother. But there was always something she had liked about Albus; where all of her piers in the Potter-Weasley clan had always been so confident, he was more like her. Less sure of himself, less outgoing and extroverted. Albus was truly a kindred spirit, it seemed, and Rose had found a friend in him.

As a result, when they were smaller, they did nearly everything together. When all their cousins were out playing games in the lawn, Rose absolutely hated being in the big crush of people, and Albus and her retreated to the tree house in the back with several books and markers. When everybody else sang carols for Christmas, they always giggled at their relatives in the back of the room, trying to observe in relative silence. When their parents were outside, talking in the parlor, they would sneak into the kitchen and try to help Grandma Molly cook the food. In other words, when Albus did something, Rose was ready to share the adventure, and vice versa.

That is, until Hogwarts.

The duo had been planning on sitting together on the train when Albus spied _him_. Scorpius Malfoy, new annoyance. He was nice enough, sure, but he was a Malfoy, and Malfoys and Weasleys don't mix. Everybody knew that.

However, Albus had few friends and a kind heart, so he sat next to the new boy instead. Rose sat with Lily and the others at the far end of the hall. She had to admit, she was miffed. Her cousin had literally abandoned her in favor of a Malfoy he had just met. It didn't exactly get better when he got sorted into Slytherin house, right alongside that blonde haired kid.

Rose decided to ignore her cousin. As far as she was concerned, he was a stranger, anyhow. He picked someone else over her; it was his own fault, really, for their loss of closeness.

She _tried_ to hate them for that. The red haired girl really gave it her all, putting all of her anger behind every thought and every word. Sadly, all those attempts at being cruel really didn't work, because she didn't hate Scorpius and Albus. The few times she interacted with them in classes, they were always nice enough.

It sucked, to put it bluntly.

Rose managed well enough without Albus, though, for years. She had Lily and James and Hugo, just like before, and now she had a handful of other friends from outside the family. She didn't think anything was missing, after a while. However, one afternoon while she listened to her friend Miranda talk about her cousins from muggle New York and how she loved visiting them, Rose realized that she missed her cousin.

She wanted to go on adventures around Hogwarts and make trips to Hogsmead and the watch Shrieking Shack like her parents did.

She wanted her first friend.

And thus began her quest to get him back.

* * *

"Can I sit here?" Rose asked, biting her lip nervously. Any other day, she would have never considered it. This was the _slytherin lunch table_. It was for _slytherin students_.

Rose was a Weasley.

Weasleys didn't _do_ that sort of thing.

First time for everything, she supposed?

Albus looked up at her in a sort of dumbfounded amazement.

"You want to sit here? With us?"

"I . . . yeah, I do," she replied, already feeling awkward. Why, oh why, had she considered this a good idea?

You see, it had been an impulse decision to try to reconnect with her cousin, and thus her first attempt in a list of contingencies was tried. For all of her planing and fiery attitude and brilliance, Rose was woefully unprepared on how to _do_ this. How does one go about making friends with family members?

This very sad excuse for a plan was probably destined for failure.

"I don't see why not," Albus shrugged, jolting her out of her panic. "I mean, it's been forever since I've actually talked to you. I have no idea why you'd want to, but we're fine with it." Obviously relieved, Rose slipped into the bench space across from him.

"Thanks, Albus. I guess I just realized I haven't really spent time with you since - "

"The beginning of first year, as I recall," he responded, albeit a little dryly. "I got sorted into slytherin. You kinda didn't speak to me besides 'pass that pencil, please' and 'how did you do on the exam' and 'isn't this teacher a tosser'." He spooned cereal into his mouth as if his point had been made. Rose supposed it probably had been.

"Yes, well, that's why I'm here. I just thought, hey, we were really close friends, but I really _haven't_ spoken with you in forever, so maybe it could change," she told him, trying not to sound pathetic. She wasn't quite sure if her attempt was working.

Ehhh, probably not.

"Okay," he said after a minute, still not really questioning anything. "I mean, again, if you want to hang out with us, we don't mind." She slowly grabbed for an orange across the table. The redhead wasn't electrocuted, so she figured that this was probably alright.

"So . . . "

"So . . . what?"

"How's . . . life?" she asked weakly, silently acknowledging to every god in existence that this was a terrible opener. _Am I trying (and failing) to sell something to an utter stranger or am I attempting to re-befriend my cousin? All of those prep-talks did nothing!_

"How's . . . life?" he repeated skeptically. She nodded, cringing all the while like the orange was masquerading as a lemon. To be fair, over this short and awkward exchange, everything in her mouth had already turned rather sour.

Her dear, sensitive cousin burst out laughing.

"God, Rose," he wheezed, trying to create words through the cackling. "That was bloody awful! And your face - you should see it right now!" He couldn't contain himself, hair falling into his eyes, and for some inexplicable reason Rose began to laugh along with him.

"Bloody hell, this was terrible!" she giggled loudly, fully aware of the fact that they were drawing way too much unwanted attention to themselves, but not caring anymore. _Note to self: when in need of an icebreaker, get your estranged cousin to laugh hysterically at your miserable attempts to act cordial._

Feeling moderately better about the success of her not-plan, Rose continued with regular conversation, and Albus did likewise. Soon after they regained their normal senses, Rose discovered that her paranoia was probably far better placed towards finals and spell-casting; her cousin clearly harbored nothing against her, and with a little elbow grease, she could very easily count him as a friend again already.

Maybe - just maybe - he missed hanging out with her, too.

And then, of course, came the sledgehammer to her terribly thought out and impulsively executed idea. The 'we' Albus had been referring to.

"Hi, Albus," he said cheerily, acting incredibly friendly for a Malfoy. He slid into the bench next to Albus like it was an everyday occurrence - which, she supposed, it probably was. "Hi, Rose," he also responded with a blink, saying her name without really registering her presence. Her cousin slowly began to smile at the pale-haired boy as he sat down, sipping from a goblet of orange juice. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

" . . . no reason," Albus smiled, his lips stretched so wide they threatened to fall off of his face. "I was just eating breakfast with _Rose_ , my _cousin_ , who decided to ask me about 'life'," he informed Malfoy patiently, using air quotes to illustrate his point. Rose _did not_ blush there. She was not a complete failure at social interaction; today was just not her day, that was all. "and wanted to get to know us a little better, I presume. At least, I think that's why she sat across from me this morning." He leaned back as though his part was over. Clearly he expected _her_ , after her already stellar performance and lovely introduction, to continue with niceties involving Scorpius. Scorpius, who was one of the major reasons she and Albus grew apart; he was the friend that both understood the young Potter and was forced to spend all his time with him.

Despite loving her recently distant cousin, Rose wondered if she could get away with diving across the table, knocking him out, and leaving him trapped in the broom closet. Why must he thrust her into an already awkward scenario?

"Erm, yes," she managed to cough out after a moment. It appeared that Scorpius' brain was still trying to come up to speed on the events of the last 30 seconds. "As Albus so _brilliantly_ explained, I just wanted to catch up on him. I realized I haven't hung out with him in decades and made the rash decision to come over here." She took the opportunity to scratch her neck. If she was going to feel uncomfortable, it was going to be for emotional reasons, not due to some stupid ache in her body. "So . . . since I'm here, I guess I should ask about you, too. I'm Rose, but you already knew that." She extended her hand across the table. Scorpius went completely and utterly white, not at all expecting that. She was afraid, for a moment, that she might have caused his neural passages to short circuit.

After a minute, just before they were prepared to cart him off to the nurse's office, he regained control of his body again and limply shook her had. "I'm Scorpius, but you already knew that, too."

"Nice to meet you officially, then," the red-head responded, somewhat relieved that her handshake hadn't sent him into a coma. The bespeckled boy she happened to be related to merely continued to watch the interaction, not attempting to guide the conversation at all or offer any areas of similarity. He merely grinned at their hands and back at Scorpius, almost as if he knew some sort of secret.

"I think I left something back in the common room, actually," Albus said suddenly, sitting up and grabbing a banana off the slytherin table before hefting his textbooks off the bench. "So I suppose you two can have fun together. I'll see you later in transfiguration!"

"Albus!" Scorpius hissed at him in a quiet plea. "Please don't leave!" He merely smiled and shrugged, patting the pale haired boy's shoulder before abandoning the table. Rose felt the need to follow suit, but not wanting to embarrass herself further that morning, she allowed her cousin to leave without protest, though her stomach started to sink ominously.

"Traitor," she mumbled, glaring at the spot he used to occupy moments ago. "He sits with me for no more than 20 minutes before deciding to abandon us here."

"You said it," Scorpius grimaced, looking at the banquet. "I'm terrible around people I don't know. He did this just to force us to get along." Rose snorted in a rather loud, unladylike fashion.

"I'm not about to attack you," she replied, rolling her eyes. "And we're not a group of toddlers. There have to be easier ways to get us to coexist without stranding us together at breakfast. Besides, if I want to be friends with Albus, I guess that means I'm bound to become friends with you, anyhow."

"I wouldn't mind becoming friends," her unwitting companion answered timidly, still looking nervous and slightly pale, but appearing significantly better since Rose admitted she dissaproved of their circumstances as well. "You'd be a big improvement from Albus. You're already a lot more straightforwards, and I doubt you would leave me alone with a complete stranger on a whim."

"Not just more straightforwards," she smiled slightly. "I'm sure I'm also smarter, being a Granger and all."

"And probably less quidditch obsessed - I can't begin to tell you what happened with that," he groaned. "He had no interest in quidditch whatsoever before he heard some girls in the hall talking about how attractive the players are. Now he's dying to get into the team next year, and he wants me to join him."

"I know next to nothing about quidditch; I never paid attention to the matches, myself."

"Me neither. I find most sports rather dull, actually, but my father loved it."

"Agreed."

Later that day, Albus asked Rose if her and Scorpius hit it off. After realizing that he was speaking to her now, she promptly hit him in the shoulder with her book before ceding to the fact that yes, Scorpius was fine. Albus ignored his bruised shoulder and replied with a witty comment on how they would all be 'the best of friends in no time'. She narrowly resisted the urge to whack him again.

* * *

"So I was thinking," her cousin began, and already she knew everything was about to go downhill. In the three weeks since her train wreck of a breakfast, she had gotten a taste of what her family member was like. Namely, he was more reckless and carefree than he was when they were little, and that combined with the natural stupidity of teenage boys created a recipe for disaster. When, exactly, had he become so sarcastic? She might have been a smidgen too naive and sentimental when she decided she wanted to reinsert herself into his social circle. He could be downright annoying sometimes - like now, for instance, as she tried to read a novel during her free time.

The library was a room of rest and relaxation. It was a bookworm's spa, a place of mental rejuvenation.

Albus did not mix with mental rejuvenation.

"A dangerous pastime, I presume," she responded, trying to tune him out. "Careful, your brain might implode if you overwork it."

"Your cutting wit is, as always, delightful, dear cousin," he smirked, hand over his heart. With a roll of her eyes, the red haired teen continued to ignore him. A page flipped. "I was proposing that you accompany us to a party. I figured, since you have nothing else to do and we're already going, maybe you could come."

"I hate parties," she monotoned. Another page was read. "And I am doing something. I'm reading. You should try it sometime."

"I'm not a big party person either, and Scorpius hates those things."

"Good. I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that your cousin and your best friend have yet another thing in common." Flip. "Why do you want me to go?" He shrugged, almost as if he hadn't really thought about it. This should have been the first sign of trouble, but Rose was too busy trying to mind will her relative away from behind the book. Sadly, it wasn't working. _Isn't there a Vanishing Cabinet somewhere in the school? Perhaps I can stuff Albus in there for an hour or two . . ._

"This party is a lot more casual. More of a . . . get together with a lot of people than a celebration," he explained, not really clarifying anything. She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It's laid back. I just thought you might want to hang out with us and meet some more people." Ah. So he was attempting to bait her into more social interactions. She was beginning to sense a pattern here.

The likelihood that he would abandon her with some strange friend in hopes of initiating a bonding experience was quite high. On the plus side, it meant she could sneak into a corner and finish her book in relative peace without her cousin complaining about her tendencies to hole herself up. This might just be a good thing.

"If it means you will stop pestering me, then yes," she mumbled, briefly settling her novel across her lap. "But I do have friends, you know. Just because I wanted to be yours doesn't mean I'm desperate to have them," she warned.

"One can never have too many friends, Rosie."

"One can experience too much of you, though."

"Touche."

* * *

When Albus said the party was a modest get together? He never mentioned that it may or may not include the majority of slytherin house, several fourth years such as herself from various other houses, and a spiked punch bowl. This was _not_ a good idea. Why did she assume going with her cousin would be a good idea? Why did she trust Albus' judgement?

Much to her surprise, he didn't just strand her in some conversation with a shocked friend of his; he actually _did_ introduce her to various slytherin members and stuck around to watch the proceedings before showing her to other friends. To her surprise, he knew a variety of people, mainly due to his classes. There was Jenna from ravenclaw, Katie from hufflepuff, Henry from gryffindor, and a slew of other students she couldn't hope to remember after a while. Even the slytherin members he knew personally seemed friendly enough for her tastes; for example, Chase, an impossibly tall chaser from the quidditch team, talked animatedly about school for a while before moving on to get punch. Though she winced as he left - he clearly hadn't seen the first years mix _something_ in there - she had to admit that he was nice. He wasn't at all what she had expected.

"I thought slytherins were calculating and crafty," she told Albus as soon as Chase was out of earshot.

"No, we're here supposedly for being 'ambitious' and 'driven', with a side of 'creativity'. Mix those things together with the fact that a lot of prestigious dark arts families got into this house, and you have a reputation for evil. I mean," he continued, "it makes sense, but we're not all _bad_. We're just . . . different." Then, after a minute of contemplation, he added, "Well, actually, some of us are evil."

"It figures."

"We can't all be prestigious little angels like you, Rose. You're the poster child for a future Head Girl." At that, the redhead laughed loudly.

"Yeah, I wish. Like that's going to happen." She felt a sudden pang of gratitude that she had changed into a nice pair of jeans and a blouse - few people were still wearing their robes, and her fiery orange mane probably didn't help her melt into the shadows any more. "Getting off the subject, I honestly just want to sit down. I've been having fun - "

"I knew it."

" - believe it or not, but I think I'm good. With the punch and the crowd . . . I would rather be out of commission in a corner when this all goes downhill." She gestured to the novel she had smuggled in. "Is there some unoccupied couch in the back of the room that I can disappear into?" Albus frowned, but pointed her towards the fireplace.

"There are usually a couple of chairs open there. But seriously Rose, the night has just begun. We've been here for barely an hour; are you really going to sit here reading for the rest of the night?"

"Hopefully, yes," she grinned, giving her relative a swift hug before moving away from the crowd. A cozy seat by the fireplace sounded much more enjoyable, anyhow. Thankfully, Albus didn't bother her about her reading, and she continued in relative peace despite the occasional shouts and other suspicious noises in the background. Thus many blissful hours passed without her notice, and by the time the book was finished, it was almost midnight.

"ROSE!" Miranda screamed, practically tackling the redhead. Her arms enveloped Rose into a death grip, squeezing her tightly. "I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD BE HERE!"

"I didn't think you could shout that loud, An," she told her with a wince. "I take it you accidentally took the drugged punch, right?" With a giggle, her calm, mature ravenclaw friend giggled like a first year and displayed her empty cup. "I see."

"ISN'T THE PUNCH SPLENDID?! I LIKE THE PUNCH!" she shouted loudly, tossing it to the floor. "GOT IT ONCE, TWICE, THRICE, FIVE-CE, WHEEEEEEEEEEE!" Rose, realizing her friend was about to jump off the couch with her and onto the hard, unforgiving floor stopped poor Miranda from face planting.

Miranda, at her heart of hearts, was one of the most sensible and sweet people she knew. The half-muggle was easily one of her closest and best friends at Hogwarts, and beyond her stellar personality and brains, she was also very attractive. With long dark hair that always seemed perfect (even now, which was something Rose was incredibly jealous of), golden brown eyes, a slim figure, and flawless cocoa skin, Miranda was one of those girls you scarcely thought was real. She probably walked straight out of a magazine.

Except, of course, for right now, as she appeared to be yelling at everything and sputtering out nonsense.

"Miranda, dear, I would like you to calm down so I can help you - "

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE, I LIKE TO WALK AND UNICORNS AND HERBOLOGY AND SMELLY THINGIES AND THE SUN. SUNSHINE IS PRETTY BUT BURNY!" she giggled, looking at Rose as if expecting her to laugh as well. Rose didn't laugh.

"Miranda, I am going to - "

"NOPE NOPE NOPE ROSIE, I DON'T WANT A ZEBRA JUICE," her companion pouted, shaking her head. Clearly, there was going to be no reasoning with her. The damage had been done.

"Merlin's beard, why me?" she groaned at the ceiling, holding onto Miranda's arm to avoid the ravenclaw wandering away. "Things were fine until _this_."

"Need some help, Rose?" came the voice of her savior. He, not unlike Albus, was sporting a pair of pants and a blue t shirt. It was far from fancy, but she had to admit he looked good. At first she looked around, confused, for the source of him, but then she spotted the pale hair amongst the crowd and immediately became relieved.

"Scorpius, thank Merlin you're here," she told him, attempting not to sound so pathetic and overwhelmed and _happy_ someone was there to help her. "I have never handled a drunk person, since I don't really go to these sorts of things, but Albus somehow convinced me and I've been sitting in solitude for the last several hours when somebody attacked me and apparently that person was Miranda who then - "

"I get it, Rose," he smiled at her, and she began to breathe again. "I hate these sorts of things. I'm not a big socializer - aside from Albus and a handful of other people, I mainly stick to myself - and frankly, as soon as alcohol is involved, they always end in me carting people back to their respective beds." He shuddered as if reliving the horrors. "I learned that the hard way." Together they began to pull a very loud and childish Miranda back to her house, trying not to let her dive for the floor or grab at the cloaks of strangers. They successfully made it out of the room and into the hall, where it was then discovered that Miranda shouldn't be trusted around changing staircases. The dark haired teen dove for platforms _just_ before they changed, laughing hysterically as Scorpius and Rose attempted to catch her.

And following yet another 10 minutes of the worst game of tag they had ever experienced, they proceeded to taking her into her room, almost getting hit over the head by a ravenclaw girl with a good aim, and wrestling Miranda into bed. Both were covered in bruises and scratches when it was done, but they felt significantly better now that she was back where she belonged.

"I don't understand how anybody could do that by themselves," Rose grumbled, crossing her arms. "Making sure she didn't start a fire was hard enough. I never would have gotten her back without you."

"Is that a thanks?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," she told him instantly, not bothering to think about it. He grinned. "That was really nice of you, so thanks."

"Maybe this was Albus' master plan, you know," he hummed in a noncommittal fashion. "He wanted you to socialize with others _and_ bond with me over Miranda's drunken escapades." She snorted.

"Albus isn't smart enough to predict all that." Scorpius nodded as if agreeing with that fact. "Frankly, I had no idea Miranda was even going to be here. I dunno how she was invited in the first place."

"She's pretty enough that one of the boys might have snuck her in, but I think she came with Tammy."

"Tammy?"

"A slytherin girl. I've seen Miranda and Tammy hanging out sometime. Tammy's fairly nice - more of a hufflepuff if you ask me, but destiny put her in our house, I guess," he explained. "She and Miranda go to Hogsmead sometimes; you really didn't know who she is?"

"Not a clue," she confirmed, frowning a little. "I guess I'll just have to meet her sometime." She extended her hand after a moment, much to Scorpius' confusion.

"What exactly are you doing?"

"I'm bidding you goodbye," she responded patiently, almost as if talking to a puppy. "I take it you're going back to that party to hang out with Albus or something, but I know exactly where everything is going and I don't want to go back. My book is finished, so I am too." He still didn't take her hand. "Are you going to shake it, or . . . "

"I'm not going back there," he laughed suddenly, causing her to jump back. Rose certainly wasn't expecting that response. "I honestly don't feel like watching drugged teenagers make out or end up fighting another roommate while trying to place someone in their dorm. I detest parties with alcohol - or just most large parties in general." Now _she_ was confused. It seemed to be the theme of the night.

Wait, no. The theme was clearly exasperation.

"Why did you go at all, then?" she interrogated, brow knit. "Albus was with me for the first hour or so, and I have no idea where your other friends were, if they were there at all."

"I didn't come for them."

"Who, then?"

"I thought it might be a little less boring and tedious if somebody else who hated these things was there, too," Scorpius said, taking a sideways glance at her. "And it would have given me an opportunity to show that I can talk to other people instead of freezing up when they start talking to you." There was a moment of silence as she mentally worked that statement out.

"Wait a second, you came because of me?" Rose questioned finally.

"Well, yeah," the slytherin replied, developing a newfound interest in the wall, and then his shoes, and then the ceiling . . . really anywhere but her face, really. "Al told me he invited you, and then . . . See, this is why I should think before I speak. For some reason this seems really embarrassing now." She couldn't help but smile slightly at his discomfort, because she knew she would feel the same way if it was her. Instead of letting him suffer, however, she put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

"It's slightly flattering, actually, that you care," she grinned. It was true, oddly enough. "Nobody has ever carried a drunken Miranda back to her dorm simply for the sake of hanging out with me." She actually got him to laugh shakily there, and for some reason she felt proud afterwards. "I'm probably just going to go back to the common room. I wouldn't mind talking with you there, if you wanted to tag along somewhere without a crowd of people and a spiked punch bowl." He didn't say anything, but it was obvious he felt better. "But, if you're still embarrassed, I suppose you could go back to your house and drown your woes in alcohol . . . "

"How could I pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the natural habitat of the illusive Rose Weasly?" The response is instantaneous and thoughtless, so off they went.

It took another half hour for them to actually reach gryffindor house, mainly because they took so many detours into other halls, randomly broke out into a race, and continuously talked the entire way there. Once inside, they drunk hot chocolate and compared favorite books and played silly kindergarten hand games like the five year olds they were until the sun came up.

Rose never said anything, but silently she thanked Albus for forcing her to go to that stupid party. Even if it had totally appeared to be heading for the worst, she had a good night because of it.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go with me?" Lily asked, still a little hesitant. "I know it's not the nicest out today, and you've never shown an interest in quidditch before. Why do you want to see a match now?"

"Well, you and James enjoy watching it, Hugo is starting to like it, Miranda sometimes goes by herself, as does another friend, Penny, and Al and Scorpius are considering trying out for the slytherin team next year," she huffed into the cold evening air, watching as puffs of breath dissipated before her eyes. Silently, Rose thanked her past self for having the hindsight to pull on her school cloak and homemade gloves (courtesy of Grandma Molly) over her regular clothes before leaving the castle. _It should be illegal for it to be so cold outside in the middle of October. Seriously, it's still the end of fall - it's not even winter yet! Why should the temperature even dip below 60 degrees?_ "Anyhow, I need to build up my tolerance for it if everybody I know is going to take an interest in it. Then you said you were going and I thought it might be more bearable if I went with you. It was fate." She shivered again and scowled, burying her nose into the cloak's collar to avoid the wind. "I just hope I don't catch a cold."

"I guess we'll really know if it was fate or not if you don't get frostbite," Lily joked, though she looked rather concerned and the slighted bit guilty. It was evident that if Rose was in anything but pristine condition by the time they got back, she would blame herself.

Ah, the struggles of being Lily Potter; she had far too much kindness and conscience for a single human being. She, in general, was the sweetest person Rose had ever met, and it was remarkable that the older redhead didn't have cavities from hanging out with her so much. Seriously, Lily was going to become either a world peace advocate or a nonprofit organization founder. She had such a giving, caring, charitable nature that it was hard not to like her.

As if that wasn't enough, she also had to be good with children and animals alike, clever, responsible, friendly to everyone she met, always willing to try new things, and incredibly pretty. In short, Lily Potter was a boy magnet, mostly for the fact that she was literally the perfect human being.

Like everyone else on the planet, Rose adored her cousin. She may have been far from the ideal girl in comparison - her bookish ways, hatred of obnoxious social gatherings, intelligence to the point of annoyance, and sarcasm didn't make her nearly as personality-winning as Lily - but she still maintained a healthy friendship for the younger redhead over the years and was proud to call her family.

"If I get frostbite, it will give me an excuse to miss the finals," Rose reassured. She didn't consider herself a very reassuring person, but Lily looked a little better. "Besides, I'm sure it'll be fine." They continued walking to the stacks in relative silence, rubbing their arms and trying to ignore the fact that they couldn't feel their feet.

"I think it's really nice that you and Albus are spending time together again," Lily finally pandered with a misleading sense of causality. "I know that James always felt bad when you wanted to hang out and he was already involved with Al. I guess we can all do more things together now." Rose rolled her eyes with fondness, easily recognizing the underlying question behind her cousin's words.

"As much as I suffered from the lack of James' presence - " Lily laughed a tiny bit at Rose's notable sarcasm, and as expected, it came out daintily. _How does her laughter always sound like tingling bells? Actually, for that matter, why am I the only one out of the Potter-Weasly clan who can snort? Couldn't that ability have been given to Hugo?_ " - I never held it against you guys when you hung out with Al instead of me, which probably happened more times than I know about. He's your brother, for merlin's sake. So don't you dare feel bad about it." She sneezed, then groaned. Seriously, being outside sucked. The things she did for her friends. "I'm happy we're interacting, actually. I really missed him; he was one of my dearest friends, once upon a time." She shuddered instantly for reasons completely unrelated to the cold. "Actually, forget that part. If Al ever heard that, he would never let it go."

"Hey, Rose," came a voice as a hand placed itself on her shoulder, and she whirled around with murder in her eyes. He flinched back. "Woah, stand down, Rose! It's only me," he said with a cringe. Luckily for him, he was considered . . . well, a friend, at this point. So she chose not to kill him for surprising her, which was a rare act of mercy indeed. Distracting Rose in a test, taking away her book, or spooking her were the three quickest ways to get decapitated.

Silently, she took a smug bit of pride from scaring people after they scared her, especially when said scared person was male. As Hermione often told her, it's fun to strike terror into boys, sometimes. It lets them know you aren't to be walked all over.

She taught Rose well.

"Hi, Scorpius. I suppose I can't murder you this time." She smiled, so he was probably safe. Probably. As she looked him over she realized that he had the same idea as hers, wearing his school issued cloak over regular long sleeved clothes. The only difference was that he brought a scarf. Smart. "What are you doing out here, anyways? I thought you would be inside with all the normal, smart people who don't want to catch hypothermia." Suddenly his smile evaporated as if he remembered where he was again. His eyes became pools of desperation and remorse, and the slytherin gripped her shoulders and starred at her intensely.

"Albus," he told her solemnly as if that should clear up everything. Knowing Albus, it probably did to somebody with more context. "Albus has dragged me to every game." Realization dawned upon her.

"Every game?" Scorpius winced as if he had been shot.

"Every single quidditch game. Every one Rose, every one, figuring we should 'study up'. And we will probably see every one until the end of the season. Just hours upon hours of people flying about on brooms and passing balls . . . " He was clearly traumatized by the experience.

"You poor baby," she murmured with genuine sympathy, briefly wondering if it would be strange if she leaned forwards and hugged him. You know, as a means of comfort.

Probably.

"I would rather face down the Whomping Willow than endure every game of quidditch," she finally responded, entirely serious. "The horrors you must have lived . . . "

"I would rather battle an ogre than seen another match," he replied quickly. It was a good thing _somebody_ understood his pain.

"Really? I'd rather spend a night in Azcaban."

"I'd rather become and animagus."

"I think that I would rather - "

"So, you must be one of Albus' friends. Scorpius, right? Rose mentioned you a couple times," Lily interjected, looking from Rose to Scorpius and absolutely beaming. Rose had learned not to trust that grin; it usually signified the start of one of her random charity projects or the planning of a devious (yet benevolently-intended) scheme. She was clearly plotting something.

Also, Scorpius jerked his hands away instantly when he realized they weren't alone (and with a blush, no less). This made Lily beam brighter, which wasn't a good sign.

"Yeah, I'm Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy, to be accurate." Though he attempted to cheer up for the introduction, it was painfully obvious that he was nervous as to what Lily would do with that information. His foot was twitching, his hands (now removed from Rose's shoulders, which was a shame, since they were somehow warm and she was freezing) were fidgeting, and he was shifting his weight from one leg to another. Clearly he had never met Lily before, the least judgmental person on earth, because she didn't bat an eyelash.

"I figured as much," she responded simply, thrusting out a hand. "And I'm Lily. Lily Potter, to be accurate, but I'm sure you already know that." Grateful that nothing was drug out, he shook her gloved palm.

"Nice to meet you," Scorpius replied simply. Then he frowned. "Okay, Al _was_ with me a second ago. I can't for the life of me remember which way he wandered off in. We were about to pick a stand when I saw you and - "

"Rose!" Apparently yet another person she knew conveniently found the redhead. She would have called that improbable, but considering the few people outside, her neon sign of a mane, and the fact that she was rarely seen remotely near the quidditch field, Rose supposed the chances of running into and easily recognizing other friends was pretty high. "Why are you here? I thought you hated these things."

"Hello, Miranda," she smiled back, because like Lily, it was impossible not to like An. She was just _nice_. "Yeah, I do, but I need to get into it eventually, I suppose."

"Better late than never, then," the dark-haired beauty grinned, leaning forwards to hug her gryffindor friend. "So, are all of you going to see the game? Because I usually just go alone since I can't find anybody to watch with." They nodded. "Great! Maybe we can all sit together, then." Unlike everybody else, since Miranda was a frequent at the field during all weather since first year, she came prepared in boots, gloves, a thick winter sweater, and a muggle snow coat. Clearly she had seen the wind and knew what to expect.

Rose then realized she was ogling An's outfit choice. She looked up. "Yeah, maybe we can. I know Scorpius and Al also go to every game, so we can drag them along to the stands. I have food, so . . . " Miranda perked up.

"You have snacks? I haven't eaten since breakfast. Can I have some?" she pleaded. Rose allowed her to dip into her stash. After three chocolate frogs had been consumed, she cut her off.

Scorpius laughed and whispered, "First lesson of watching quidditch: don't let anybody know you have food. People you don't even know will swarm you, and if they're your friends, they feel no remorse over stealing your stuff."

"So you have food?" she whispered back. He rolled his eyes.

"Of course I do, Weasly. I'm not a simpleton." For a split second, he flashed open his cloak to reveal a stash of assorted candy. "Just don't let Al find out."

"Promise," she giggled. Honest to god giggled. She never did this. Ever.

If this wasn't proof that they were friends, she didn't know what was.

"You promise what, Rose?" called voice number three, at which point she tapped out. People had to stop appearing at convenient moments out of thin air. It wasn't fair.

"Somebody finally materialized, Albus," Lily exclaimed, greeting her cousin warmly.

"Good to see you too, Lil. Though I have to say, I'm surprised to see Rose. What powers of persuasion did Lily pull on you to get you out here?" he teased, but with genuine interest. Rose snorted (again with the snorting, seriously).

"I wanted to go with her," the older gryffindor told him simply, shrugging her shoulders. He blinked.

"Okay, really, what blackmail was used?"

"None, I actually just wanted to build up my immunity."

"I think you've been brainwashed. Rose hates watching these matches." He turned to Scorpius. "Did you hear anything?" The pale-haired boy wisely held up his hands in surrender.

"I'm staying out of it, Al. I think she's telling the truth."

"Why is it so hard to believe that I would go to a quidditch game of my own free will?" Rose groaned.

"I just want to know what exactly Lily has on you, Rose," Albus told her slowly. Lily looked scandalized.

"Albus!"

"What, Lil?"

"You know I wouldn't do something like that."

"Oh come on, you're expecting me to believe that my cousin of all people has miraculously developed an interest in _quidditch_?" He crossed his arms skeptically. "She's got to be hiding something."

"Of course I am," Rose retorted with a roll of her eyes. "That's why I'd let Lily drag me into this mess. Because of my magical deep, dark secret."

"I knew it!" he cried triumphantly. "So you finally admit that - "

"Let's go sit down, shall we?" Miranda said firmly, grabbing Lily with one arm and Albus by the other. Together, they all began to scale the nearest tower. Scorpius and Rose, left blissfully unencumbered thanks to the ravenclaw, seemed visibly relieved.

"After you," Scorpius told her with a bow, gesturing towards the staircase. She laughed and pulled back his cloak on the way up.

"Why, of course."

* * *

The quidditch game went as expected; Albus teased her relentlessly for information (but in good nature, as there wasn't any real cruelty in it), Miranda snuck away her snacks, and Scorpius offered her some of his when Miranda eventually took the whole container. Lily smiled and giggled every time Scorpius and Rose talked, which was often. Though Lily occasionally interjected, she mainly left the two to chat on their own, opting to steal out of Rose's already stolen goods. Albus stole off of Lily, who stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation, causing Miranda to laugh, which in turn caused Rose herself to laugh as the gorgeous ravenclaw ended up spilling said confiscated food all over the seat. All in all, none of them paid much attention the the actual match, but they figured that this was way more fun anyhow.

* * *

Christmas break marked family bonding, fun traditions, and avoiding singing songs with her family like the plague, which was why hanging out with Albus was so great this year. She didn't have to suffer in some closet alone in order to spare the world from her voice (which was passable, but in the mornings it always seemed like she inherited her father's off pitch screams instead of proper vocal cords).

Now, however, Christmas break was over, and she was back at Hogwarts for the next semester.

The joys of being a student.

"It feels good to be back!" Albus beamed in the compartment of the train, looking eagerly out the window like a puppy. Perhaps he had been one in a past life. It would explain the friendly immaturity and the low attention capacity. "It feels like forever since we've been to Hogwarts. I miss sleeping in my bed."

"It's only been two weeks, Al. And besides, you have your bed. It's at home," she pointed out, yawning. Being at home gave her the opportunity to sleep in, but school meant more exams and a schedule. Don't get her wrong, Rose adored her time at Hogwarts. But sleeping . . . sleep was sacred. She had gotten too used to being in bed.

"Yeah, but I got used to the Hogwarts mattress. Sleeping someplace else seems really weird now."

"Hmm," she said with crossed arms, wondering how exactly her cousin was so alert. She would still be beneath the covers if she had her way. "What say you, Scorpius?"

"Huh?" he mumbled, haven half fallen asleep himself. That was one of the perks of having an enormous mansion; it was usually extremely quiet. You could sleep as long as you wanted, and clearly he had. Which sorta just reinforced her point.

"See? Even your best friend is too tired. This proves that they should give us another day to stay at home and catch up on napping before we're thrust back into testing," she beamed triumphantly. Albus simply smiled and shook his head.

"Have it your way, Rosie, but I missed staying here. I'm glad we're back right now."

"Me too," Lily spoke up. She had been relatively quiet throughout the ride, watching the scenery numbly while she daydreamed. Rose had nearly forgotten she was there, and the same went for James. He had instantly slumped over and fell asleep the minute he relaxed into the chair, and now Miranda was tasked with making sure he didn't fall off the seat. Rose was suddenly grateful that she didn't have to sit on the other side of the cramped compartment; four people would have been enough. However, all six of them - and it would have been eight, had Hugo not been stolen away by his friends and Penny not been delivered to the school by her father, who had been going to ask about a teaching position - _just_ fit, but they made it work.

Still, with Lily by the window and Miranda in the middle, keeping hold of an unconscious James with a struggle, Rose was more than happy to be seated between Albus and Scorpius on the right cushioned bench. It made the ride far easier to endure in her tired state.

"Besides, we still have another hour before we get there, so you can do whatever with your precious freedom until we get there," Miranda huffed, pulling up the dark haired boy to prevent him from slumping to the train floor. "At least you don't have the responsibility of somebody's life on you."

"I doubt James would have found a way to kill himself in our compartment, An, but you're right," Rose spoke out decisively. "And thus I am going to sleep. Wake me up when we get there."

"Can't you just read or something?" Lily asked, once again proving that she was present and listening.

"I can, I just don't want to. Again, if you guys wake me up before we get there, I'll strangle James," Rose retorted firmly.

"Why James?" Scorpius questioned, clearly confused. He had been so close to nodding off as it was, but their conversation had finally prompted him to ask. Now he was wide awake, which tended to happen when talk of murder arose. Poor bloke.

"Because he's asleep and won't feel it, so at least I will have gotten out my anger on someone who won't suffer," she explained patiently, already nuzzling into the back of the seat.

"Be my guest," grunted the ravenclaw from where she sat. Although she was usually a well of sympathy and kindness, her extensive depths of defensiveness and overall patience had grown thin. She was, after all, saddled with the most attention-hoarding problem in their car, and guarding James from disaster for the past 3 hours, especially since she was just as tired as the rest of them, had taken its toll.

" . . . I'm not sleeping now," Scorpius eventually told them, to which Lily and Albus nodded solemnly. He looked back over his shoulder, and there she was - the gryffindor was already out cold next to him, and was already slumping forwards like James had. Scorpius nudged Albus. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"Like what? I'm not dying if she wakes up because of me. I'm too jittery - I drank three glasses of muggle coffee this morning and have been eating sugary snacks from the trolley for the whole ride in preparation. What do you think I'm going to be able to?" Albus protested, displaying his shaking hands as evidence. Scorpius' mouth puckered into an 'o'; it certainly explained a lot.

"Well still, she's your cousin."

"Aren't you her friend, too? Just make sure she doesn't end up hurting herself during all the bumpy parts, like Miranda. See, Miranda's doing it, and she's not related to James," he rebuked, pointing to the dark haired girl holding James' arm in a death grip.

"Yeah, it's a blast," she deadpanned. "If this happens again at semester's end, I nominate Albus to deal with his own brother." Albus had the decency to at least appear sympathetic.

"Fine, fine," the Malfoy finally ceded, slipping an extremely cautious arm around Rose's waist. As if in retaliation, her head slipped towards the slytherin's side, bashing his shoulder rather painfully. Scorpius tried not to move during said bash. "This is going to be a long hour." Lily merely smiled apologetically and shrugged.

For the rest of the ride, Albus talked about randomness around the castle, Lily commented on his occasional quidditch-based comment, and Miranda grunted at odd moments. James often shifted during his sleep, and the train car seats weren't conducive to his thrashing, which resulted in never-ending torture for her. Eventually, Scorpius drifted off as well, resulting in Rose waking up to a concerned looking Albus and Scorpius's head resting on hers, his arm slung loosely behind her back. After figuring out exactly what had transpired, she lightly slapped Al's shoulder and waited for her friend to wake up. When he did, utterly embarrassed and just in time for the train to pull towards the stop (he had excellent timing, apparently), she simply handed him one of Al's chocolate frogs and said something about him drooling in his sleep. He retaliated with a similar insult, and thus the status quo was restored.

It was good to be back, after all. Each and every one of them, even poor Miranda, had missed eachother.

* * *

"Is this going to be a regular thing now?" Rose remarked with surprise as she realized this was the sixth time all of them had shown up together to watch a quidditch game. There was Lily at her left side, and Miranda (who was fully decked out in snacks this time, having smuggled nearly the Great Hall's worth of food into her seemingly-endless pockets) at her right. Al and Scorpius were directly in front of her, Al completely engaged while Scorpius feigned entertainment and regularly turned around to talk with the girls to cure his boredom. Also accompanying them was James, who was sitting on the remaining side of Albus and acting just as hyped about the exchange, and Hugo, her brother who was continually turning to Lily and asking her questions about the way the game was played, which she was happy to answer.

"I mean, I thought that after the third time this was kind of an established group," Scorpius answered honestly from directly in front of her, looking visibly better now that he had an excuse to not pay attention. "I can't say I'm dissapointed. This is way better than trying to decipher Al's rambles for the quidditch team." She smirked.

"Isn't anything?"

"True, that." She smiled but then sighed, and the slytherin frowned.

"What's up? Not having a good time at this incredibly interesting match?" Her smile returned slowly at his sarcastic inquiry, and so she explained.

"No, it's just Penny. I know the game is only about ten minutes in, but she should be here by now. Like Miranda, she usually just went by herself since nobody wanted to see the game with her - "

"Can't imagine why, with all the excitement brewing about."

" - so she really wanted to come see one with us. But I'm worried she got confused and went up the wrong spire and thought we weren't coming and thought I was pranking her or something and - "

"Rose," he stopped, grabbing her hands. She blinked. "I'm sure Penny's going to be fine. You're just nervous because, like always, you want things to be perfect. You're a little bit of an overachiever, actually. She's going to find us eventually, I'm sure of it." Slowly, the redhead relaxed.

"I know. I'm just a bit nervous is all. You and James and Hugo and Al have never met her, so I'm worried she's going to feel unwelcome of something. You know, in addition to getting lost." He smirked.

"I don't know. I can be rather charming when I want to be."

"So, never?"

Scorpius placed a hand to his chest in mock offense. "And here I thought we were friends, Weasly!"

"All's fair in love and war, Mr. Malfoy."

"Noted." Divine intervention stopped her from continuing in their witty banter, because at that moment, Penny entered the stands, bag in hand and hufflepuff cloak on her back.

"Over here, Pen!" Rose shouted, practically jumping out of her seat, and the girl beamed and began walking over. Lily and Miranda briefly chatted with her as she sat down, seeing as they also knew the fourth year and were friends with her. James and Hugo, oblivious to the exchange, continued paying attention to the game, but Scorpius smiled at the newcomer and extended a hand.

"Scorpius Malfoy, nice to meet you." She took it with a grateful smile, which made sense. She wasn't used to seeing these matches in a big group - it made sense to be nervous.

"Penny Taliwhen, pleasure," she replied. At this moment, Albus turned around to see what was going on.

"What are you all talking ab - " he stopped mid-sentence, which was typical for boys meeting Penny. It was easy to loose your train of thought around her.

Penny was kind and loyal - she had to be, being sorted into hufflepuff - but she was also insanely beautiful, which was apparently typical for Rose's friends. With her cyan blue eyes, strawberry blonde hair, and milky white skin dusted with freckles, she was gorgeous. And sporty, apparently, as she enjoyed running in her free time and was an avid quidditch watcher. Not to mention that, like Rose, she was incredibly clever and gifted at spells. They were teamed together for an assignment in herbology - their only weak subjects - and the rest became history.

Seriously, all of Rose's friends were perfect models with delightful personalities. She was beginning to sense a pattern, and she seemed exceptionally out of the mix in this group of boy-magnets. How did she even befriend these people in the first place?

Finally, Albus regained his cognitive abilities and was able to speak again. "I'm Albus Potter. You must be Penny," he blurted out with difficulty. Scorpius, Rose, Lily, Miranda, and everybody else who still cared enough about the exchange to pay attention held back respective snickers. You couldn't pay Al to shut up for a second, but here he was, recovering after being rendered essentially speechless.

"Yeah, I am," she told him. "Are you okay, or . . . " Another great thing about Penny; she didn't flaunt her looks. Partially this was due to the fact that she was oblivious to her effect on others.

"No! No, I'm fine, actually," Albus reassured her, his adam's apple bobbing up and down. This time, Rose couldn't help laughing slightly. Luckily, Lily covered her mouth before she could distract from the interaction. "Better than fine. So . . . do you come here often?" Penny nodded with the patience of a saint.

"Yup, all the time. I try to come for every game, since nobody is here in the winter and just after break. That's not true right now, obviously, but I'm just used to coming alone. This should be fun," she explained cheerfully. Albus nodded too quickly for the human eye to follow.

"So have we! I've forced Scorpius to come to every game next year for the same reason. We want to sign up for the team next year."

"Cool! I hope you guys get it. What positions were you thinking about trying out for?" Albus was freaking beaming, and even Scorpius was starting to get both jittery and unnerved.

"Well, I was hoping for chaser or keeper, because I think I'm better suited for it, but Scorp . . . "

After another hour and a half, the match was completed and Penny had left. She and Albus had spent the whole time shouting out at the plays on the field or chatting animatedly over quidditch. Scorpius was generally glad to be relived of his duties as 'interested best friend' for the duration of the game. No one was happier about this development than Rose, who had scarcely known what to do with herself after everybody was occupied talking to other people. Sure, Miranda and Lily held conversations, but soon Hugo would be asking about stats and Lily would go to respond and Miranda would go back to watching plays. At least with Scorpius she wasn't completely alone.

As they finally cleared out - Miranda had already left to ravenclaw and James and Lily had gone off somewhere else - Albus looked back at Hugo, Rose, and Scorpius with wide, starry eyes. Rose didn't know if she trusted Al with that look. It was almost terrifying.

"Penny should come see all the games with us, guys," he exclaimed, appearing far too happy. Hugo grinned a little.

"She made a big impression on someone, huh?" he told his sister. The redhead ruffled her brother's hair in agreement.

"I'm sure she'd be more than happy to, Al. And next year, I'm sure she would be fine with doing other stuff with us, too," Rose told him, trying not to smirk. If she thought he acted like a child before . . .

"Great!" her cousin smiled at her. "Do you think she likes me?"

"Come on, Al." _Well now she has to come see all the remaining games of the season with us_ , Rose thought. In her mind, there was no reason to _not_ smirk, so she did. Quite extensively, actually. Albus was, apparently, very easy to win over. _She's the only one who can hold his full attention span for so long._

* * *

The end of the year was rapidly approaching, and with that came the OWLs. Rose had been especially anxious for that, but Albus of all people squeezed her shoulder before she went into the testing room. It was a small comfort, but it calmed her down enough to focus. Now they had just gotten back their results, and as she was handed her scroll and dismissed from the classroom, said anxiousness was slowly creeping back in.

Slowly, she pulled apart the seal and rolled open the parchment, awaiting to score with a wince.

"I got a 97!" she squealed with delight, practically jumping up and down. With a cry of joy and relief, she burst into the dining hall, not caring who heard her. "Al, Scorp, An, Lil, table, chair, goblet of ciber I got a 97!" Albus wasn't present, and nor was Miranda, but Lily and Scorpius got up to hug her.

"Great job, Rosie!" Lily beamed, picking up on her excitement and relief through emotional osmosis. "I'm so proud of you! We all know how nervous you were."

"You did great, Ro," Scorpius smiled, hugging her impulsively. The warm action sent tingles down her spine as she returned it.

"Thanks, guys," she sighed contentedly, savoring the moment. Testing was over, classes were wrapping up, and she had nothing to do but relax for the next hour or so. Life was pretty good.

Maybe it was because she had such good friends. She would definitely miss this come summer.

* * *

The ride back on the Hogwarts Express was filled with reminiscing and the retelling of fond memories. The year had flown by, and Rose could hardly imagine that there was a time in which she hadn't been involved regularly with Albus and Scorpius. She liked to think that she had gotten much closer to both over the past year, and she was glad that they were around her now. Speaking of which, she still had something to say to the later of said boys.

As they got off the train, she stopped him. In confusion, the tall slytherin cocked an eyebrow.

"You alright, Rose?" Scorpius asked, starting to frown. "Are you not feeling well? You look a little off."

"No, no, I'm fine," she reassured. "I just wanted to tell you something. It's pretty cheesy and unscripted, so please don't laugh." He waved his arm as a symbol to proceed. "When Albus and I were little, we did everything together. He got me. And then Albus met you, another boy his age in the same house with the same qualities, and it was like he didn't need me anymore. _That_ was really why I stopped hanging out with him. But the thing is, I missed being close to him like we were as kids." She pulled at the sleeves of her jumper, realizing that they were in a very public place and this confession was not the sort of thing she wanted to go public. _Oh well, I guess we're ruining our own reputation one sob story at a time_. "So I made the impulse decision to start seeing him again. I tried to be friendly with you - even if our first talk was a little awkward - "

"Define awkward, Rosie. I think I was about to faint when you actually started talking to me," her pale-haired companion said with a smile, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Okay, well, a lot awkward. I was hoping I hadn't sent you to the infirmary."

"With the reputation of our parents, it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary." Cue laughing.

"Back to the _point_ , Mr. Malfoy, and the point is that at first I didn't really know what to make of you other than the fact that you were being nice to me. I thought that it was just because of Albus. But I really do consider you a good friend now, and I have for a while, and I wanted you to know," she finished. And no, Scorpius Malfoy wasn't _beaming_. That was ridiculous. His face was just doing this involuntarily; it had absolutely _nothing_ to do with this exchange. "So, friends?" She extended a hand, just like the first time at breakfast.

For a split second, she sincerely hoped that his lack of motion didn't mean that he was going to collapse onto the floorboards. Luckily, he remained conscious, and he pushed past her hand and straight out hugged her. She hugged him back.

"Friends, Rose," he told her firmly. "Definitely friends."

"ROSE!" called a voice. A shock of red appeared over the crowd, and she instantly groaned. Her father had a knack for interrupting her at pivotal moments.

"COMING!" she yelled, hoping he'd hear her. Turning back to Scorpius, she smiled apologetically. "You're always welcome at our place during the summer, you know."

"Same for you and Al, though the manor isn't exactly the most welcoming at times."

"ROSIE!" Ron shouted again, and Rose resisted the urge to hex her father. Why must he always do this?

 _He means well. Just remember he means well. Remember he means well,_ and _you don't know where you would hide the body_.

"Bye, Scor," she told him, hugging him once more for good measure before running back to the source of the voice. Scorpius waved after her and waited for his parents patiently - the platform was a crowded mess of people.

* * *

As they got in the flying car and prepared to head back, Ron turned around and stared at his daughter.

"Were you hanging out with that Malfoy kid, Rose?" She shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze.

"Erm, yes?" Apparently this wasn't sufficient, because he continued to look at her with eyes that would make the Minister fidget. "Scorpius is one of my friends, actually." With a frown, her father turned around and started up the car, brow knit together. A moment of silence followed, causing the redhead to momentarily forget how to breathe.

"If he ever hurts you, I'm feeding him to a pack of wild dragons," Ron said finally, looking straight ahead. Realizing this was the closest she would get to approval for now, she beamed and said 'thank you'. Her father waved her off and began asking questions about school.

She still considered it a battle won.

* * *

 **So, there you have it. Part 1 of an incredibly long series. I didn't expect this to take up any more than 6k or so, but here we are. The quidditch scene actually got deleted 3 TIMES IN A ROW, which slowed progress down significantly, and if it's crappy then that is why. I rewrote it based on my original draft with much difficulty.**

 **Anyways, I hope the beginning was satisfying. I'm going to be alternating the focus of the story based on chapter, so Scorpius will be the main character of the next portion. I refuse to surrender the name of said next portion, though; you'll all just have to suffer.**

 **Please stick around for part 2, which will be coming out sometime between now and the 16th of next month, hopefully. I'm going on vacation soon, but if I work quickly and have the time, this may be uploaded within the next week or two. We'll see.**

 **Bye! Please please please leave a review and remember to favorite this story; I sustain myself off of validation.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	2. Best Friends

**Hey, everybody! So this is part 2, Best Friends. If you didn't look at the chapter titles, this evolves by stage in relationship, so you can pretty much guess what the next part will be called. Nevertheless, I hope everybody liked part 1; the few reviews I got from it were very positive and encouraged me to start on this immediately.**

 **I'm going to stop wasting your time with exposition. Onwards to the fic!**

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy had no idea when he became enamored with one Rose Weasley. Perhaps it was the first time she asked him to pass a paper in their study hall. Perhaps it was when he saw her laugh at one of Lily's jokes. Perhaps it was even on the first train car, when the world was still small and fresh and he was only Scorpius, not a slytherin.

Regardless, since the start of his career at Hogwarts, he liked her. Probably a great deal more than he ought to.

Bugger.

Now, she was his friend. His and Al's and James' and Lily's and An's and Penny's and a whole slew of other peoples', but his friend too. And he was honestly surprised he had miraculously made the cut for her friendship, because she was bloody brilliant at everything and clearly him being friends with Al was one of the sticking points for their childhood friendship. But again, regardless, he _still_ liked her entirely too much and loved having her around.

Therein lied the problem; being simply friends with somebody you thought the world of.

And that's when they started to go from friends to best friends.

* * *

"This has got to be the biggest compartment I've ever seen," Rose gasped, looking up and down the enormous car. Scorpius tried (and failed) to bite back a grin, because yes, yes it was, and he practically scoured the train nearly an hour ahead of time in order to sit in and reserve it. Damn it all, their entire group was going to sit together this time, with no holding up a slumping James, no squeezing almost beyond comfort, no ending up in someone else's lap the second a bump in the tracks occurs. They would finally all have leg room for once, and the idea alone made his heart soar with relief.

Each side of the compartment had a padded chair connected to the wall, just like any other compartment, but in here, the benches on either side would easily fit eight students, and therefore life could precede as usual.

Rose and Hugo, since Hermione Granger was always sure to get her family to the platform spot-on time, were the first to get there after Scorpius. So naturally, Rose had to be the first to point out the obvious upgrade to their Hogwarts Express experience.

"Woah," Hugo said, almost dumbstruck, turning in slow circles around the car. He was entering third year, and his brown hair was finally starting to grow out. "This is amazing, Ro. I want to sit here every time." Rose smiled and took his bag, shoving it into the overhead compartment with her luggage.

"You said it," she responded in kind, starring at Scorpius. "How did you do it?" He shrugged, perfectly well aware of the fact that he was grinning like an idiot. "You didn't come ahead early, did you? How long were you waiting on the train?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets, Rose."

"You're no party magician, Scorpius," she rebutted, crossing her arms.

"No, but I'm training to be a wizard, and those titles are pretty interchangeable," he asserted, and she huffed. The redhead hated loosing, and in the few times she did, he couldn't help but love her reaction. It was always so dramatic. "When do you think Al, James, and Lily are going to show?" he asked, attempting to change the subject for her benefit.

"Soon, I hope," she informed, looking significantly less pouty. Success. "Our parents tend to meet up after dropping us off, and Uncle Harry knows better than to keep Mum waiting. It's essentially a death sentence."

"If she's anything like you, I can only imagine." She shoved him, smiling, and he laughed.

"Shut up, you idiot."

"As you wish." Hugo rolled his eyes in the background and smirked directly at Scorpius after this exchange. The slytherin pretended not to notice.

In a few short minutes, Albus and co did indeed materialize in the car, followed closely by Penny, who Albus had insisted should sit by him, and Miranda, who asked if she could bring some people in with her. When everyone agreed that they had more than enough space, the ravenclaw brought in her cousin Tammy (so _that_ was how they knew eachother) and another friend Rose had never met before, Claire. As everyone began to get situated, a friend of Hugo's ended up wandering in, and once again their arrangements changed.

Scorpius watched as they all piled in, taking mental note of where everybody had sat. On the left side, Claire sat near the door with James on her other side, and following James was Lily, who was caught between him and Hugo, whose friend (Scorpius later learned her name was Faye, because over 50% of the people in their social group at any time _had_ to be female) sat by the window. On the other side, where he sat, Tammy was against the panel next to the door, Miranda was at her side (which made sense, because the two could easily talk with Claire from across the aisle), Rose was next to Miranda, finally followed by him, Penny, and then Albus, because tearing Albus away from a window was a recipe for disaster.

"I think we need more boys in the group, Al," Scorpius whispered over Penny the moment the blonde was remotely distracted. She had begun listening to music on an outdated iPod, and therefore this was the only opportunity he would get to talk with an undistracted Albus.

"Maybe, but I think we're all fine," the fellow slytherin grinned, looking around the compartment with a smile. "I kinda like it this way."

"Are you saying that because you think Rose and Lily might hear, or because of An?"

"A little bit of Rose and Lily, really," he defended, but after a moment he reconsidered. "Having Penny join the group was a really good idea, though."

"Of course it was, mate," Scorpius clucked, shaking his head, silently grateful for Penny's muggle earbuds. "You realize you're forgetting Miranda in that, too? She's been regularly hanging out with us for over half of last year." Albus shrugged.

"Yeah, but she's not my cousin or my future girlfriend. Therefore she didn't need mentioning," he retorted with a bad attempt at a dignified sniff. Albus and dignified simply didn't mix, no matter how hard you shoved the two together. Oh well, perhaps there would be hope for him in the future.

"Future girlfriend?"

"Oh . . . the world probably knows I like her at this point." His face was bright red, and again, Scorpius lamented on how lucky his best friend was that Penny wasn't paying one iota of attention to them at the moment. "As James saw fit to tell me, I'm sure it was 'painfully obvious'. I just hope that she doesn't figure it out just yet."

"Painfully obvious is an understatement, Al." He would've clapped a hand on Al's back, but it was impossible with the strawberry blonde in the way. "At least you've finally found someone as emotionally oblivious as you." The bespeckled boy scowled and Rose took this as a signal to join the conversation.

"Who's emotionally oblivious?" she butted in.

"Albus, and most likely Penny. As much as I like her as a human being, she has to be pretty oblivious not to notice how Albus gets around her," Scorpius explained, looking smugly at the bespeckled boy.

"Oh, yeah. She wouldn't know what a boy crushing on her would look like even if somebody stood up and asked her out now," Rose agreed heartily. "It's one of the first things you notice about her; she doesn't notice any of that frivolity."

"Hear that, Al? Maybe you have a chance after all," Scorpius grinned, taking far too much amusement out of this. Rose's cousin simply frowned darkly.

"I hate you both." And with that, Albus stuck out his tongue and went back to the window.

The remainder of the ride was spent on three things, the first of which was getting to know Tammy. She really had seemed nice the few times when Scorpius interacted with her in classes, and despite her slytherin nature, she was every bit as sweet and compassionate as Miranda herself, albeit with a flair of mischief. She also looked quite a bit like her cousin, having the same dark hair and light cocoa complexion, but her eyes were a deep green and she appeared a little shorter and rounder. Actually, it was remarkable that he hadn't placed them as cousins before.

The second was watching James argue with Claire. Like Miranda, she appeared to be a quidditch fanatic, which instantly lead to a series of heated debated with James over the sport and which professional team was best. Already she was bright red in the face, dirty blonde hair probably getting in her mouth, violet/blue eyes (there was no other way to describe them, because they were essentially purple with hints of blue, as if someone had tie-dyed them; it was actually slightly terrifying in the moment) practically on fire, and her shirt untucked. Previously her hands had been in her lap, but within seconds they had been flailing around in time with her speech and she fought with the stubborn Potter boy. Though the squabble was unnecessarily intense, it was entertaining enough to watch, and so many precious minutes were wasted viewing Miranda's friend feud.

The last (and most enjoyable) part of the train ride was talking to Rose, which was an activity that took up a good 2/3 of their duration on the trip. Though they had seen eachother several times over the summer accompanied by other Potter-Weasley clan members, they continued catching up while everyone else was distracted. Penny had finally put her device away and began chatting with Albus, to nobody's surprise, as they were the only ones who could keep up with eachother's quidditch nonsense. Hugo and Faye slid from subject to subject with Lily, who had already deemed them 'adorable' and was probably thinking up ways to match-make them. As Claire and James were already preoccupied, only Tammy and Miranda were left unscathed, but they too began recounting family stories from the past summer, leaving Scorpius alone with Rose.

He didn't even pretend to be dissapointed. He kinda liked having her undivided attention all to himself.

As they arrived at Hogwarts, he felt brave, so he kissed her cheek. The redhead laughed a little at that, accused him of being a flatterer, and continued onto the gryffindor dorms with a warm goodbye to all her other friends. Only Lily looked back and winked at the slytherin, who had been waiting with Albus. He didn't know how he felt about Lily referring to . . . whatever that was with Rose, but he figured it was probably harmless. They were all just growing closer as friends.

* * *

"The world is revolving around quidditch, Al," Scorpius groaned, sitting down in the hallway with his fellow slytherin. "I don't know why it is, but it's a unifying factor in our friend group, we've already tried out for the team, and one of the major things we all do together is watch the games. Why do we all care so much about this stupid sport?" Albus shrugged.

"Quidditch can be fun, and girls like quidditch players."

"By girls you mean Penny."

"Well, okay, now I do. But I thought girls would dig quidditch players before I even _met_ Pen. I already decided to try out and drag you into this with me long before I liked her specifically," Albus protested, to which Scorpius could only bob his head politely.

"But now it's about Penny specifically, right?" His companion held out for a few seconds before sighing and lowering his head in defeat.

"Now it's about Penny."

"Good to know," he replied with misleading causality, looking around the nearly deserted hall. "You're sure the results are going to be posted here? In this hallway? In this off hour? Because we haven't seen squat yet and ten minutes have already flown by." The bespeckled boy readjusted his position on the floor before giving up and letting his legs lie straight on the ground.

"Yes, I'm sure. Why are you in such a rush to know?"

"Because the sooner I know I didn't make it on the team, the sooner I can start celebrating. I had to learn positions and plays and regulations for this stupid sports team, Al. I don't want to suffer anymore by actually putting them into use."

"Quidditch isn't that bad."

"Says you," the pale-haired teen added. "And you actually want to play. I'm just along for the hopefully brief ride."

"Suit yourself, mate, I hope I get in." Just then, the slytherin quidditch captain, Harold Zabini, came around with a scroll, charming it to the wall. Albus practically bolted forwards, and a reluctant Scorpius walked slowly to the paper behind him. After scanning the parchment intensely, Al grinned up at his friend. "I'm in! I got chaser!" The Potter proceeded to whoop loudly in the corridor, causing the other slytherin to wince. Scorpius sincerely hoped nobody else would pay attention to them.

"Let's see if I'm - " His sentence was never completed, because at the top of the sheet in thick black lettering was his name. Under the position of seeker.

He signed up for beater.

There had to be a mistake.

Luckily, Harold hadn't left yet, so Scorpius snatched the results off the wall and ran up to the sixth year captain, crumpled sheet in hand.

"I think there's been an error with the results, Harold. It says I'm the team seeker, and I tried out for beater," he informed him. Harold merely raised an eyebrow as if wondering where the point in that was. "And even then I wasn't expecting to get in," he added lamely.

"Look, the rounds this year weren't all that good," Harold told him with a sigh. "You, actually, were a pretty decent beater. You would've done fine on the team. But beaters were in high stock this year, and to be a beater you already need to be quick, agile, aware of your surroundings, and have good hand-eye coordination. Only two people tried out for seeker, neither of which were all that good. Thus I made you a seeker." Harold, feeling that everything had been thoroughly explained, proceeded to leaving, which left Scorpius in utter shock by the flyer.

"But . . . but I . . . " he sputtered. Albus reassured him in his coma-like state with comforting words and a pat on the shoulder.

When Rose and the others finally saw the haunted look in his eyes hours later come lunch, she gave him a hug and proceeded to share in his suffering.

She was a good friend.

* * *

"The first trip to Broomsticks with the whole group - this is the start of a legacy," Scorpius proclaimed. Technically, after a fire broke out in the defense against the dark arts course and the herbology greenhouse was somehow overrun with locusts, classes were canceled and they had been allowed to roam wherever, so they had been walking around Hogsmead as a group for the last several hours already. But they hadn't yet stopped at the Three Broomsticks, so this outing was incomplete. Finally, Miranda voiced her hunger, then James, who had then gotten into a fight with Claire over who deserved food more. Though Tammy and Lily had attempted to break them up, seeing as they were calling far too much attention to themselves, James refused to quiet down and Claire said she wouldn't until he did.

Yes, miraculously Claire and Tammy had joined their self-appointed Hogwarts group after only having met everyone three months ago. Through some inexplicable chain of events, they had become regulars amongst the self-proclaimed 'gang'. Scorpius, sadly, had grown used to Tam's quiet presence that countered An's extroverted nature, and she and Lily had become fast friends as well. The same went for Claire, who had quickly settled into the roll of 'James' arch nemesis' without so much as a second thought.

"They're at it again," Rose sighed at his side. Prior to this moment, when Miranda, Lily, and Tammy decided to go shopping, the remaining boys groaned. After a second, Claire shrugged and followed them in, not wanting to wait for an hour outside the shop, and James declared that she wasn't escaping from their argument so easily, so he went after her. Hugo laughed, said something about 'not missing the action', and turned into the entrance without another word. However, Rose had no interest in going clothes shopping, Penny declared she was fine, Albus' eyes practically lit up (because let's face it, everybody wanted a girl like Penny as it was, but knowing that she hated shopping just added to the appeal), and Scorpius was just happy he didn't have to go in there and hold somebody's bags. If anyone had asked him to, he would have felt contractually obligated to do so.

Rose told him that was stupid, and she was right. It didn't get rid of the hypothetical guilt, though.

After another half hour of waiting on a lonesome bench outside the store, the girls emerged, all of them carrying a bag except for Claire, who was smirking as she watched James haul out her items with a scowl.

"She tricked me," he seethed, frowning deeply. "I know she did."

"Who? Claire?" Scorpius had asked.

"She used a charm on me or something! One minute we were talking and the next minute I somehow was mind-controlled into carrying her stuff!" he protested loudly, almost appearing betrayed.

It was at this moment that Rose leaned over and whispered next to his ear, "He likes her. He has to, with the way they've been arguing."

"Ahh," he responded, realization dawning on him.

"What was that?" James asked suspiciously. "Were you two - "

"I'm starving," Miranda declared, and thus they were on their way, bringing them to present time. Rose had just referred to any illusive 'they're' so the slytherin could play the pronoun game.

"Who? James and Claire? I mean, we're in the restaurant, and they've been 'at it' since they met," Scorpius told her, brow furrowed in confusion. She waved a hand in front of her in a gesture. He still didn't get it.

"No, Lily. And now Miranda, actually, but mostly Lily," Rose informed, shuddering slightly in her seat. "Gosh, the way she's looking at us . . . " Scorpius glanced over at Lily and did indeed feel instantly uncomfortable. The younger redhead was smiling incredibly brightly, and Scorpius was reminded with a start about that wink as they got off the Hogwarts Express. Something about this seemed strangely familiar.

Realizing her presence was noticed, Lily looked away, and so did Miranda after flashing them a quick grin. Odd.

"That was weird," he told her with a dry laugh, and she nodded too, a small smile stretching at her lips.

"Very." The situation they had introduced themselves to made it so that everybody was sitting in almost the exact same positions as they were on the train. Claire, then James, then Lily, but Miranda was sitting next to her, followed by Tammy. At the start of the row on the other side was Rose, then Scorpius, then Penny and Albus, and Hugo remained at the end. Everyone had split into unofficial groups when they sat down; Lily and Miranda continued to giggle about something, Tammy and Hugo were talking by process of elimination, Albus was hanging onto every word Penny spoke, and James was heatedly conversing with Claire, just like he had been all day, but there was a grin forming on his face as he talked to the blonde.

Rose's hunch was correct. He definitely had a thing for her.

"My relatives sure do have a thing for blondes," she finally said, gazing at the little family they've created for themselves. After a year or two, or even a couple of months, most people start to count their friends as unofficial family members anyhow, and Scorpius was pleasantly surprised to realize that the same was true for him. He really cared about these people.

Wow.

"Well, does that mean a certain redhead we both know is going to start getting an illusive 'thing' for me, too?" he teased, trying to lighten the mood. With the dim lighting and cozy atmosphere of the local joint, he had somehow started to become comfortable being completely sentimental, and that seemed a little too heavy for a simple outing with fellow students.

"Oh, Lily isn't going to fall for you in a million years," Rose snorted, starting to laugh. "Your hair is far too pale for that." Though he laughed along with her, a small part of him wondered if she actually knew who he was referring to.

A round of butter beers is ordered for everyone, and soon lunch is served up as well. There are no central meals isolated to one person; instead several big appetizers are placed in the middle an extra plates are brought, so everyone is reaching over eachother to grab things off of platters. Nachos and garlic bread and fruit and fondue and a whole slew of other things are piled in, and although he hadn't been there in nearly a year, Scorpius hardily approved of their makeshift lunch. Albus pays, because the Potters are richer than god, and even though Scorpius offered to help with the bill James reached across the table and shoved him down without another word. Rose laughs yet again at Scorpius' duped face, as if somebody had just pulled a nasty prank on him, and for some reason her teasing makes him feel better about it.

As they all leave with full stomachs, they don't go back instantly. Hugo recommends the Shrieking Shack, and Rose squeals and admits she always wanted to visit, so off they all go without a second thought. This happens with several people numerous times, almost to the point of absurdity since everyone has acknowledged that they are only saying things to avoid ending the adventure. Saying goodbye means going back to Hogwarts and facing classwork the next day, and this was one of those great days you remember for years afterwards.

Eventually, after procrastinating long enough to justify ordering dinner (at which point they go back to the Three Broomsticks, and the waiter gives them funny looks because he just _knows_ he's already seen them that day, but it's fine after all since the food is so great) they all have to admit that it's time to head back up to their dorms and call it a night. James once again carries Claire's purchases, but this time he doesn't mind so much and her smirk is far softer. Lily and Tam have linked arms and are walking just behind everybody else, trapped in their own little world. Miranda has slung an arm over Hugo's shoulder, and they're laughing about some joke, and finally Albus and Penny lead the pack, Al making a serious attempt to not blush every time their hands brush.

Rose is still at his side, the way she has remained all day long, and he reaches over to squeeze her hand for no reason at all. She squeezes back, smiling a little at him as they go.

It's been a great day.

* * *

"What is the final ingredient used to complete a polyjuice potion?" Scorpius read off Rose's notecards. This was a milestone in their friendship.

You see, she _never_ asked anybody to help her study. _Never_. She always studied by herself or questioned teachers about things she was unclear about. The fact that she begged him to help her cram for an exam in the morning was incredibly flattering, despite how small and menial the task may be.

"A hair or some other sort of identifying substance from the person you wish to impersonate," Rose finished after a split second of concentration. "But hairs are the easiest to use and are typically the most compatible article to accommodate the potion." He clapped quietly, at which point she smiled shyly. "Oh, stop it. These are the easy ones. I'm not going to do all that well on the harder questions."

"You? Not do well?" Scorpius couldn't help himself - he started laughing hysterically, trying not to be loud since they were currently in the middle of the library, but failing miserably. "Ro, you're going to do fine. Better than fine, actually, if your grades so far are any indication of your knowledge in the class."

"But I'm actually really worried about this one," she whined. "I need the practice!"

"People like me need practice," Scorpius responded with a fond roll of his eyes. "I'm no slacker - heck, on the OWLs I got a 95 - but even I can't hope to retain information like this in such huge chunks without studying. You, on the other hand, soak it up like a sponge. For example, what is the difference between a griffin and a hypogriff?"

"A griffin is a mythic crossbreed between birds and lions, but hypogriffs stem from birds and horses. Everybody knows that," she recited. "What was the point of me saying that?"

"That was probably the hardest question on the exam, Rosie. You're going to do just fine, so stop stressing about it." With that, the slytherin got out of his chair and walked over to hers. The redhead cocked her head in confusion. He proceeded to pulling her up and grabbing her hand. "C'mon, let's go do something."

"Scorp," she groaned. "I need to pass this thing."

"You've got nothing to be worried about, trust me. Now, let's go." He didn't really have a plan for where he would take her, but she seemed so stressed out that he figured anything to take her mind off of it would be fine. With reluctance, she allowed him to drag her away, forgetting about her bag and notes, and within a few minutes she was walking right along side him.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Away," he hummed noncommittally, and she smirked.

"No, really?"

"Yes, really, actually. We left the library, so now we are away. Just consider walking around with me an adventure."

"Some adventure," she snorted, then crinkled her nose because she hated her snorts. Scorpius didn't mind; after a while, they had become rather endearing, he liked to think. "I walk around the school every day."

"Not like this," he told her, a stroke of genius hitting him. He let go of her hand and went sprinting down the hall, shouting, "Catch me if you can, Weasley!" The gryffindor laughs at him like he's insane, and maybe he is, because he's never this stupid and impulsive around anyone but her.

It's starting to be a problem, but as she chases after him, he finds he really doesn't mind.

* * *

The first quidditch game of the season takes place, and Scorpius would rather be hiding beneath the field. Al is by his side, also hovering above the ground on his broomstick, but he seems a lot more excited about this revelation. Mentally, the slytherin is just mentally counting down seconds until the game will start, because the sooner it starts, the quicker he can leave.

3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

"GO!" is yelled by the sixth year that records play-by-plays, and so the match commences. The balls are released into the air and the crowd roars with enthusiasm. These games took nearly an hour last year since the seekers weren't so good, and now, Scorpius is seriously doubting his ability to pull this off. He really didn't want to be here. This is borderline torture, and he probably won't be any good anyhow.

"YOU CAN DO IT, SCOR! MOVE ALREADY!" shouts a voice, and Scorpius, honestly surprised anybody would be cheering him on at all, turns to figure out where it came from. He doesn't know why he's surprised, but he is. Very surprised indeed.

Because right in the center stand lies the whole group, with Rose screaming the loudest of all of them. Rose Weasley, one of his closest friends, the girl who only tolerates quidditch, is the most worked up out of all of them, so prominent that he could discern her from across the stadium.

He fell a little bit in love with her right there.

It's not like the others were quiet, either. Hugo, to Rose's left, is practically shouting at the top of his lungs, and James and Claire (because in the group, where James is just happens to be where Claire finds herself, and vice versa) were crying out encouragements to the slytherin team together, as if they finally found something to agree on. Lily, Miranda, Penny, and Tammy, all of which adorned the row directly above Rose, had somehow made signs to show their support. Each one has a different word, and together they read: LET'S GO SLYTHERIN HOUSE!

It's all so much more than he was expecting, and although he knows that they're all cheering for Albus as well (especially Penny, he notes with a smile, reminding himself to tell Al about that later), he can't help but feel a little touched that they care enough.

Then he remembers that, oh yeah, he's in the middle of a game. A game in which everyone needs him to win.

Right.

 _Oh, don't mind me, I'm just the most important player in the entire team, even though I would rather be literally anywhere else. Like in the stands, next to Rose._ Maybe if he fell right now and broke a bone they would let him leave. _Could I even break a bone careening into the stands? Wouldn't magic just fix me up?_

It appeared he would actually have to try. Fantastic.

With a hefty sigh of resignation, he began to fly around the field in search of the snitch. It didn't seem to be anywhere. Fortunately, the seeker on the hufflepuff team seemed to be having the same problem, so for now, they were about tied.

Ten minutes later (yes, he was avidly looking, it's just that the little golden ball smaller than a lightbulb that was speeding faster than a jet and had the whole field to roam was kind-of hard to spot) he finally caught a glimpse of bright metal flashing towards the hufflepuff goalposts. After several dives that nearly made him lose his lunch, a loop that he never should have even dreamed of attempting, and an incredibly risky move that included letting go of the broom with both hands and swinging a foot loose, he caught it, thankfully before the hufflepuff seeker.

Scorpius couldn't tell you anything about the match other than seeing his friends and the chase in which he caught the snitch, because everything else just sorta blurred together (later he was informed that the game had taken half an hour, which was still short, but he could have sworn up and down that it had only been that initial 10 minutes). Al clapped him on the back, Claire commended him on his endeavor (which was a huge compliment from her, as she lived and breathed the game), and Hugo joked that he 'wasn't _that_ bad'. Lastly, Rose emerged, ruffled his hair, and told him that she was proud. Then she demanded a ride back to the dining hall so they could all go have a victory dinner, and although Lily continued to smile at them the whole way in (it was starting to become her roll in the group, actually - it made him wonder what exactly she was thinking about), they cheerfully pretended it wasn't unsettling to have her watch them.

Even though they got weird stares at dinner when everyone sat at the gryffindor table, nobody said anything, so the resident gryffindors - James, Lily, Hugo, and Rose - ignored the puzzled strangers easily. Miranda and Claire, the ravenclaw girls, teased Hugo, because halfway through eating his friend Faye came in from study hall and sat next to him. This caused the boy to blush, causing Lily and Faye herself to coo over him. He swatted them away and became more red as a result. Penny was simply glad that Faye had came, as the only hufflepuff at the table before the younger girl sat there, so now she wasn't alone. How anybody could feel alone when Albus was constantly watching them was beyond Scorpius, but everything just seemed to feel natural, despite the chaos. It felt like home.

* * *

It felt like Scorpius had just blinked and all of fifth year had gone by, because here he was, only a month before the end of school, and he honestly couldn't recount much of anything that happened past the first four months in. It was all just a blur of quidditch games (which he began to grudgingly enjoy, to Rose's endless amusement), exams, and great memories in which they all acted utterly ridiculous.

Now marked the end of an era.

"Geez, mate, it's only the last bit of fifth year," Albus told him exasperatedly at the slytherin table, brandishing his bagel while he talked. "You act like your favorite pet is dying. We still have two more years left of school left to live out." Scorpius still flopped onto the wooden surface dramatically.

"It just won't be the same. In two years, we'll all be gone for good, alone in the real world, stranded amongst the ways of adulthood." The bespeckled boy simply blinked.

"That's exactly what I said. We have two years."

"I know. Isn't that depressing?"

" . . . Are you going to be okay? I think you may have hit your head," noted a concerned Albus, mentally checking Scorpius up and down for signs of injury. "Rose, does he look hurt to you?" Rose, who had somehow become accustomed to sitting at their table next to Albus ( _and sometimes me_ , Scorpius couldn't help but take pleasure in thinking), considered this for a moment.

"He looks alright, I guess. No need to drag him to the medic's wing just yet," she eventually commented. she reached across the table and began playing with his hair while he continued closing his eyes. It felt . . . nice, actually. "He'll probably be fine." Albus rolled his eyes.

"You're the boss, Rosie, but if he goes crazy on us . . . "

"I know, I know, and I'm sure your future girlfriend is more than willing to protect you in the event that Scorp goes insane and attacks you. She's quite fond of you, too, I think," Rose replied calmly, sipping from a goblet of chocolate milk casually. Albus sputtered before turning an accusing finger towards his best friend.

"You! You told her, didn't you?" he cried, flying into an existential crisis. "Bloody hell, Scorpius! Why?!" Scorpius lazily opened a single eye, tried not to grin, and shrugged.

"Oh, he hardly needed to tell me, Al," Rose said, and she didn't even attempt to mask her smirk. "It's written all over your face and everybody knows it."

"Still, I trusted him," Albus protested, "And he betrayed me. You can't spill your best friend's secrets!"

"For Rose I can," Scorpius answered, eyes shut firmly once again. Through her loosely suppressed giggles, Rose continued messing with his pale hair. "As long as she doesn't spill. She's also my best friend, you know."

"Yup," the redhead added cheerfully. "And now I am going to steal your cinnamon toast, if you don't mind." Her cousin continued to sit in silence, dumbfounded, so the gryffindor took this as approval and snatched the bread off his plate.

"I never should have introduced you two," Albus finally said after what felt like an eternity, glaring at both teens. Scorpius lifted his head to look at Rose and they both shrugged together.

"Actually, I'm very glad you did," Rose affirmed, finishing off his toast with satisfaction. She even took it an extra step by making a show of licking the tips of her fingers.

"Quite." He grinned, giving up on concealing the smile. Al would get over it. "Ready to go, Rosie dearest?"

"Of course, Scorpsie," she responded, batting her eyelashes and flashing her most devious look at her cousin. "We have classes, after all." With that, he proceeded to walk around the table and offer his arm to her. She took it and linked her own arm through, and they left the dining hall side by side.

Albus didn't leave for another 10 minutes. He needed time to process all that his horrible friends had put him through.

* * *

Finals are done, results are posted, and Scorpius Malfoy and the rest of the fifth years were done with Hogwarts for the season. They all boarded the train and stole the large compartment again, Rose making sure to come extra early so Scorpius wouldn't have to this time. After insisting he couldn't possibly make her wait alone, however, because she would surely die of boredom and he quite prefers his friend alive, thank you very much, he ended up waited with her. Hugo, with much exasperation, said that somebody needs to supervise them - Scorpius _didn't blush_ , his face was just somehow malfunctioning (ha, malfunctioning, Malfoy, I'm clearly a comedic genius) - and decided to bring along 'just a friend, guys, we have the room and they're pretty cool', which happened to be Faye once again.

When he learned who it was, Scorpius wasn't surprised that the hufflepuff girl he barely talked to had been looped into this, and he understood why Hugo might want to keep things under wraps. With the way Lily had been starring at Rose's little brother and his best friend (and let's be honest, the girl was probably Hugo's best friend, since the slytherin often saw them hanging out), Scorpius would want to hide away in a cupboard forever as well (not that he already _doesn't_ want to whenever Lily grins deviously at him and Rose, but still).

Rose wasn't surprised either, but that didn't stop her from saying things like, "Oh, I didn't know you were bringing your girlfriend," and "Hey, where's Faye? You're practically attached at the hip," or even, "I call being best woman at your wedding," whenever the hufflepuff wasn't paying attention.

It was times like these that Scorpius thanked the heavens above that he wasn't dating anyone. Rose would tease him relentlessly about the poor girl if he was.

Eventually, Miranda and her cousin made their way to the car, beaming brightly, and soon after came James and Claire, arguing avidly, though she seemed flushed and he was clearly holding one of her smaller bags. Lastly came Albus and Penny, the former of which was listening to Penny drone on about the mediocrity of the payment scale on which quidditch players are approved.

The next several hours contained, quite possibly, the best memories he'd made all year. Albus tripped over his own luggage, but then Penny helped him up, so the boy really couldn't find grounds on which to complain. Claire miraculously ended up in James' lap as they went over a bump, but somehow neither of them noticed until Miranda pointed it out minutes later. They collectively blushed and separated, remaining the quietest they had ever been since meeting two semesters ago. Tammy used a spell to make snow appear inside the compartment, and since no patrolling teachers or trolley cart owners attempted to stop them, they built a snowman right in the middle of the train car. Rose even sacrificed her cloak for the sake of snowpeople fashion, so in the end, they were left with a dripping black mass, a wet floor, and numb hands, but it was worth it, especially when Rose proceeded to steal his jumper to fight the chill.

As he hopped off the platform and waved goodbye to his companions, he couldn't help but think about what a great year it had been, even though it ended all too quickly. His mother, after most of the parents had left, arrived and hugged him almost to the point of strangulation, claiming she had missed him too much. His father clamped him on the back and ruffled his hair, smiling in silence. In that moment, the Malfoys were normal, just like any other wizarding family collecting their child.

* * *

"I thought you liked summer," Rose reminded him, shoving the Malfoy boy. This was one of the few times, midway through break, that the Malfoy manor had been opened up to outsiders. Said outsider was Rose Weasley, whose father not only cross-examined Scorpius before agreeing to let her stay for the day but also inspected the entrance for any evidence of suspicious activity and made a five mile long list of safety measures Astoria should take in the event Rose got into an accident.

The redhead was incredibly embarrassed by that, but luckily Astoria took it in stride and tried not to smile as she listened. Finally, after remaining in the doorway for nearly half an hour, Rose came in. What was meant to be a day spent quietly catching up, maybe playing some games or watching movies on a muggle DVD player, became an afternoon dedicated to exploring the enormous mansion. Even Scorpius wasn't sure he had been in all the rooms, and he lived there since birth.

Now, they were sitting in the house's pavilion, because yes, a random set of doors in the middle of their manor opened up to a swimming pool that was practically a pond, complete with an assortment of beautiful exotic plants and a huge grassy area in which they could lounge on the grass in the shade of a tree. The room was open air, meaning it had no roof, but it was charmed to never let outside weather effect it. Thus bugs, snow, hail, and anything else couldn't pierce the space, though it _did_ rain periodically whenever the plants needed water.

Currently, Rose was next to said tree, laying stomach down on the grass, Scorpius at her side.

"I do like summer," he protested, sitting up and gesturing at the space. "Especially when I can come and relax in this place whenever I want."

"But . . . " she pressed, starting to smile.

"But I can't see all of you during the summer. I can hang out with a few of you at a time - "

"Your favorite few, right? Because otherwise I take offense."

" - but not the whole group. Dad would have a heart attack if I invited _all_ of you over. We're not used to having so many visitors." He laid down on the ground. "I'm glad you came, Rosie."

"I'm glad I did, too. Especially since you haven't ever watched a movie before." She brandished a copy of superhero movies in front of him and finally pulled the player out of her bag. It was as if she had been waiting to whip it out. "I thought we could start with these. They're pretty cool, for muggle films, and my dad really likes them." He gazed at the covers with interest.

"Who's Iron Man? There's a guy walking around who's made of iron?" he questioned. "Isn't that impossible?"

"Who is Iron Man?" she gasped, almost looking hurt. With a sad shake of her head, she popped it into the player first. "We're going to fix that, Scorpius. I can't believe you don't even know who my favorite Avenger is." Thus he was introduced to the world of Marvel and DC for no apparent reason. After 8 hours and 5 films, he was caught between liking the first superman movie and Iron Man best, and Rose approved of his conundrum.

It was incredibly stupid and meaningless, but Scorpius considered it time well spent.

* * *

Sixth year marked a fire started by one of the students on the Hogwarts Express, so about halfway to the school everybody was loaded out of the train onto this random field. Smoke trailed out of the windows with an almost lazy quality, fogging up the glass with grey. Hugo insisted on bringing his trunk out, complaining that his stuff would smell like ash for the next week if it remained inside, so the Weasley boy had propped it up in the middle of the grass like a table.

Actually, a table was exactly what they had used it as. Everyone crowded around the case in a circle, sitting on the dry ground and waiting more-or-less patiently for the magical repairs to be completed. Albus had halfheartedly laid out his snacks from the trolley onto the makeshift table, and Lily (kind, thoughtful, giving Lily) had decided to follow his suit and put her entire bag of Bertie Bott's beans out for grabs. Miranda offered up some muggle gum, being as she came from a wizard father and a normal mother and had been given a pack by her muggle cousins.

Nobody else had anything worth contributing, but all of them shared in the spoils nonetheless. Of course, that did nothing to distill the boredom, but that's what friends were for.

"Two truths and a lie, right?" Scorpius clarified. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. "I thought so. Sorry, I've just . . . I've never played this before. Or anything like it, really."

"It's fine. None of us are going to judge you or something, so just make something up now," Claire told him.

"I mean, as long as you know what to do, it's pretty simple," Tammy added. Scorpius was silent for a minute, but he spoke soon after.

"Okay, so I got a grandfather named Lucius, my best friend Albus is attractive, and 95 is my score on the OWLs," the slytherin said. Everyone groaned save for Penny, Rose, Lily, and Albus. The three girls took this moment to laugh at Albus, who was scowling fiercely.

"Ouch, mate," the Potter seethed, crossing his arms. "And yet I call you my best friend."

"You've got to make it harder to figure out the lie than _that_ , Scorpius," Rose wheezed through the laughter. "I think you need to go again."

"Yeah, you can't say three truths," Penny tacked quietly onto the end of that statement, smirking slightly. Albus blinked and his frown melted into a happy sort of shock.

"Wait," the dark haired slytherin started, "did you just say that - "

"Alright . . . I've seen a dragon in real life, my middle name is Hyperion, and my birthday is in March." All of them appeared dumbfounded.

"Well, Albus, I'm fairly sure his middle name is Hyperion, but what month is his birthday in again?" Rose asked, then winced. "Wait, we never celebrated your birthday? After knowing you for two years?" Scorpius shook his head, somewhat amused.

"Nope."

"Wow. I'm really sorry, Scorp. Granted, we never really celebrated other birthdays either, but at least we acknowledged them," the redhead continued.

"Yes, well, we're not usually in school when my birthday comes around, so there's no need for a fanfare," he replied. Rose smiled widely.

"I know the lie," she said triumphantly. "But I'm not going to tell you. You have to figure it out by yourselves."

"I throw the game, then," James declared. "I pick the dragon thing."

"Same," Miranda agreed. "I'm not saying its not possible, but it's a little out there."

"Well, Uncle Charlie raises dragons, and I've seen one because of him, so I'm going with the middle name. Who names their child Hyperion?" Lily stated, frowning slightly. "It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it?"

"The birthday thing?" Tammy guessed weakly, and Penny nodded.

"I thought it was Hyperion, but now I'm second guessing myself. Choice two." Albus scratched the back of his head. "I hope that doesn't come back to bite me."

"Dragons," Claire blurted out, and then figured that her obligation to the game was done, because she proceeded to rip up the grass and eat candy. Nobody stopped her. Hugo and Faye shrugged as a sign of giving up.

Finally, last but not least, Rose mustered the grin of somebody who knew they would win. _If only she was more like this during the exams_ , he thought silently. "It's choice number three, the one about your birthday," she said with confidence. "You said we typically weren't in school during this time, but we stay at Hogwarts all throughout March. It probably takes place during summer break, right?"

"Yup, Rosie. You got me." The words came out fonder than he expected them to, and when she beamed, he found himself warmed down to the tips of his shoes. Odd. "Oh, yeah, and Tammy and Penny. But they just guessed."

"Yeah, but it worked, didn't it?" Penny reminded him. "I'm saying that the winner should go next, so I nominate Tammy." The cocoa skinned girl smiled and nodded.

"Okay, I have an uncle named Priam, my favorite color is turquoise, and I have five pairs of pants in my trunk on the train," she said after a split second.

" . . . number three," Lily hesitantly answered. "It's far too long and specific."

"Three."

"Three, duh."

"It's going to be something stupid, like six, so I say three."

"The pants thing."

"Third one." On and on this went, and soon only Albus, Miranda, and Rose remained.

"One for variety," the slytherin responded. "Everyone said three, so I'm going to be original."

"Two, because nobody picked it yet," Rose deduced.

"I think it's two," Miranda answered calmly, and everybody else save Rose sighed, because after all, Miranda would know best. Being cousins had its perks.

"Yeah, it was two," Tammy admitted, and James crossed his arms. Claire told him he was being childish, so he uncrossed them and opted for frowning. She flicked his nose, efficiently distracting him, and in retaliation he got up and began chasing her around the lawn. _They're going to be a thing before the end of the year._ "I like pure blue, not turquoise. I'm a purist."

"I think Rose should go now," Miranda affirmed, sneaking a brief look in Scorpius' direction. The ravenclaw was seriously shaping up to be just as bad as Lily.

"Really? Why can't you go?" the Weasley prodded. "I don't know what to say, An."

"I can't think of anything that Tam won't automatically know," she replied simply, waving her hand as if dismissing the possibility. "So therefore, playing by winners pick rules, you should choose next."

"You realize I am related to most of the players in this game, right?"

"Yup, but they don't know _everything_ about your home life. Hugo isn't playing, and that eliminates most of the competition."

"As an only child, An, that argument could also apply to you," Rose reasoned.

"Just _go_ , Rosie," she sighed with exasperation. Rose maturely stuck out her tongue at her beautiful companion and took in a deep breath.

"So, I've wrestled a hypogriff, somebody forced me into a chair and stole my teeth once, and I've traveled alongside a group of demigods for a day to recover a stolen lightning bolt."

"What?" Scorpius uttered. He had really thought that he had this in the bag. The others seemed to share in his confusion. "I think I may have missed a step."

"I don't think you did all those things, dear cousin," a concerned Albus commented. "Are you feeling all right?"

"You haven't become loony, have you?" James questioned in a suspicious voice. Apparently he had caught Claire and had sat back down, still holding an arm firmly around her waist. _In case she tries to mount a daring escape, I presume,_ the Malfoy teen couldn't help but think in his most sarcastic internal voice.

"I haven't done all of those things and I'm not crazy, everyone. I only did two of them, actually. Now guess," she dictated, and so they did.

"The third one," Miranda said, being the first to attempt. "I've got no idea what a demigod is. Is that another word for half-blood?" Rose smirked mischievously.

"Technically, yes. Just not in the way you're thinking." An scrunched up her nose but said nothing.

"I'm with my cousin. Three," Tammy answered.

"I'm guessing two," Albus replied.

"Two." Penny yawned a little after her statement. "When do you think the train will be fixed already? I just want to get there at this point."

"I dunno, Pen," Lily responded. "It's been a while. You'd think that with magic, we'd be on our way by now." Turning back to Rose, she said, "Oh, I'm just going to guess choice one. I've never seen a hypogriff up close and I doubt that you have either."

"I'm also saying one," Scorpius added.

"Three," Claire remarked. "It makes no sense."

"If everybody's done, then, the answer is the first one. I've never wrestled a hypogriff; I've wrestled a griffin." Rose took a moment to smile at Scorpius. "And, as you asked me to point out in the library last year, their origins are slightly varied. There's a difference."

"Okay, I'm sorry, Rose, but you're delusional. That stuff didn't happen," the bespeckled boy proclaimed. "I have never seen you wrestle a griffin in real life."

"I didn't. It was virtual," she explained. When all of the group still looked confused, she began to elaborate. "See, Mum wasn't much of a gamer, but her father had a few games, and she gave Hugo and I his old set. There was this simulation on one of them in which you have to fight a griffin to pass on to the next level. Thus I have fought a griffin."

"And the teeth thing?" Claire asked.

"Oh, that's because my grandparents are also dentists. I needed them to pull one of my baby teeth because it was obstructing a new one that was growing in. However, I was about six and I was pretty fussy about it, so dad had to pretty much hold me down and sedate me. It wasn't exactly my day." She paused for a moment, but when Lily opened her mouth, she continued. "Before you can ask, my mom took me to a muggle bookstore several years ago. She got me a book about and the adventure of a boy named Percy Jackson. The novel integrated greek myth with modern human society, and the term demigod, or half-blood, refers to a child like Percy; someone who has a mortal parent and a greek god as a parent. Percy ends up trying to prove his innocence by finding a lightning bolt he believes was stolen by his uncle, one of the gods. I read the book in a day, and thus the third statement was true."

"So, I guess Lily has to go now," Scorpius commented, now significantly less befuddled.

"I don't really think I'm ready, but here goes," the Potter girl started. "I've - "

"ALL ABOARD, STUDENTS!" called out one of the women from the trolley carts. Everyone began running back to the doors of the cars, fighting to get in first. Clearing off the makeshift table, the group wordlessly got up, brushing elbows and stealing candy, but nobody minded.

In truth, despite the inconvenience the fire posed, it had been fun.

* * *

The dining hall was a flurry of excitement, cheerful voices illuminating the halls, ghosts chattering joyfully, the candles above burning brightly. It shouldn't be this happy for the second week of school, but there they were, all the students of Hogwarts, buzzing about like they had all won the lottery.

The reason was the Triwizard Tournament.

Cue squealing.

Frankly, Scorpius, along with the rest of the population, could honestly care less about the tournament. That in and of itself, while it was bounds more interesting than quidditch, wasn't worth the fuss; win or lose, it was all just about fun and friendly competition, and it was only a major source of worry for the three students chosen, so freaking out about it made no sense. It wasn't like he would be doing it or anything; he would much rather just sit in the bleachers and watch another Hogwarts teenager duel against a variety of horrifying creatures, thank you very much. Again, the Triwizard tournament was cool enough to watch, occasionally worth getting into for those not directly involved, but it was not worth all the attention that made it into such a social outlet.

No, the thing that everybody was up in arms about was the thing that happened due to the Triwizard Tournament. The Yule Ball.

Cue louder squealing.

Every single student was going absolutely insane over who they would ask, if they would get asked, how to ask someone, when to ask someone, what they would do if they couldn't ask someone, who they would kill if they tried to ask someone else, what they should wear after they succeeded with asking someone . . . it was incredibly exhausting just to imagine it.

Sure, Scorpius had endured this once as a second year. He had seen the mass excitement and panic all before. But you see, people don't care in second year because anyone lower than a fourth year doesn't really go. They just unilaterally decide that it isn't worth worrying over because they aren't going with the older years. But once you hit fourth year and above, you are pretty much contractually obligated to attend the party. It's almost a rite of passage, at that point, and every student has to go _or else_.

Basically, though he had thankfully avoided the storm four years ago, Scorpius was being forced to experience the massive Yule Ball. The biggest party of his Hogwarts career.

Had Scorpius mentioned before how much he absolutely _hated_ parties?

This now lead him to his current problem; who he was going to go with.

Honestly, Scorpius hadn't planned on going with anybody; he had figured that his friends would just tag along and they would all attend the Yule Ball as a group. He really hadn't planned on Lily getting asked, and then Miranda, and then Tammy (but he probably should have, because even though he didn't think of them in _that_ way, he knew that they were all insanely pretty). Thus the catalyst had happened and everyone was frantic to find a date.

"I really want to ask Penny," Albus stated during lunch. "I mean, I know she's out of my league, but I've known her for a while and I think I might have a chance." The Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"That's an understatement. If she says no, I'll give you 50 gold pieces," he responded in a monotone voice. "That should be enough with which to bribe another girl last minute, right?"

"Oh, sod off. At least I've got the courage to ask out the girl I like. When are you going to get your act together with Rose?" the Potter grumbled. Scorpius whipped around his head in surprise.

"Rose? You mean Rose Weasley, your cousin?" he stated slowly.

"Yeah, she's the only one we know. I thought you had a crush on her in first year," Albus commented, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Awnd I see yo with wer. Wat's wolding yo wack?"

"Chew before you attempt to speak, Al," the slytherin responded dryly. "And that's different. Yeah, I had a huge crush on your cousin, but that was a while ago. It's different now - we're friends. She's one of my _best_ friends. I don't want to mess that up. Asking her out will make things weird." Albus looked at him in disbelief.

"But some small, suppressed part of you still likes her, right?"

" . . . maybe." And there was no way Scorpius Malfoy was blushing. That's crazy.

"You two are the most ridiculous people I have ever met," Albus groaned, wagging his sandwich in his friend's face. "Fine, you and Rose can remain in denial. Who else would you ask, then?"

"Nobody," he answered honestly. "I thought I could just go alone." Al froze. Then he broke out laughing.

"I'm sorry, but you can't go _alone_ to the most important social event in your _entire_ student years!" he cackled. "EVERYONE is going. You, Rosie, Penny, and I are literally the last ones to get asked or to ask someone. I'd assumed you'd have a plan, mate."

"Even Claire? Headstrong, stubborn, pretends to hate James' guts Claire?"

"Didn't you hear? James went up to her yesterday after dinner and said that he'd be bored, so the least he could do was ask her to go with him so he'd have someone to argue with."

"And that worked?" he questioned incredulously.

"Apparently, because she said yes and James has been smiling all morning." Scorpius' companion ate another piece of the sandwich, but this time he made sure to swallow before talking. "Anyways, if I want to catch Penny before her defense against the dark arts course, I better run. Tell me how it goes with Rose, alright?"

"Huh? I already told you, I can't ask Ro - "

"Bye, Scorp!" Al yelled, already halfway to the door.

Typical.

And now Scorpius had to find someone to go with. Perfect.

* * *

"SHE SAID YES!" Albus screamed out to the world, practically skipping down the hallway before tackling Scorpius. "SHE SAID SHE'D GO!" Scorpius, well aware of the strangers staring at them, attempted to pry the dark-haired slytherin student off of him. It didn't work. He was trapped in said hug/restraint.

"I'm happy for you, mate. But you're kinda restricting my breathing, so . . . "

"THIS IS AMAZING!"

"Right." So, now he, and everyone else within a five mile radius of the castle, knew that Albus had a date. If only Scorpius could do the same.

It's fine. He's fine being a bouncer. It's just the stupid Yule Ball, so he'll probably be fine. Even if he ends up going alone.

* * *

When they were a week until the event, his resolve cracked.

"So, Rosie," Scorpius started. He almost couldn't bring himself to finish. The redhead looked up from her book, and mentally Scorpius congratulated himself on being an idiot. He had hoped that by getting her while she was distracted, he might get a yes purely from confusion. However, he had neglected to take into account that bothering Rosie while she read a novel was like trying to poke a bear while it ate. Right.

Too late to turn back now.

"Would you . . . maybe . . . if nobody has asked you . . . " _Why the heck is this so hard? It's only Rose! You've been one of her closest friends for years!_

 _WHY AM I SO NERVOUS?!_

No, the mental meltdown wasn't good. This wasn't good in the slightest.

"Would I maybe if nobody what?" she fired back, closing the cover with a sigh. Well, maybe he wouldn't die today after all.

"GowithmetotheYuleBall?" The words came out in a hurried rush, as if by getting them out quicker he might avoid the pain of dragging it out. Like ripping off a band aid.

" . . . did you say 'Yule Ball', or was that just me?" the gryffindor girl asked hesitantly, pulling her book to her chest. She appeared a little frazzled, just a smidgen confused. He couldn't blame her.

"Erm, yeah," he clarified, cringing all the while. "Albus is going with Penny, James is going with Claire, and I really wanted to go with my best friend." _Great job, Malfoy. Clearly you have a way with words._

"Alright then, I guess," she told him hesitantly. "I mean, I haven't been asked yet, and I had assumed we were just going to go as a group, so I was fine going alone, actually."

"That's what I said, but Albus insisted that it would be stupid if I went as a bouncer to the party and he put me through another week of hell. I was a nervous, anxious wreck for days."

Regaining back her usual wit and sarcasm, she flicked his nose. "Based on that proposal, I'd say you still are. I've never seen a human being speak that fast."

"Oh come on, it was terrible, but I wasn't as bad as Al, I'm sure."

"Probably worse, I'd say. There wasn't even a grand romantic gesture thrown in there. I almost feel miffed," she grinned.

"I'd probably mess it up."

"Naturally."

"At least I'll get it right when I propose for real, Rosie." She gasped and batted her eyelashes, and Scorpius was yet again reminded of why they were best friends. She was the only one who he could be like this around who _wouldn't_ hold stuff over his head for the rest of his life.

"Marriage? Why, isn't that a little premature, darling?"

"Only for you, dearest," he smirked, sealing their banter with a wink. She shoved him and laughed. "Okay, this was way less stressful than I thought it would be."

"Of course, Scorp. Seriously, I'm your best friend - there was no way I would've rejected you," she told him firmly. Then, changing the subject, she continued, "But as your future date, I say that you have to help me carry my stuff for the next week. I've got a lot of projects to hand in and - "

"Okay, Rose." Yeah, they would be fine. There was no reason to worry after all.

* * *

It was official. The Yule Ball sucked.

No part could be worth the events of the last several hours. Albus, James, and a begrudging Hugo had dragged him all over creation (aka took him down to Hogsmead, the nearest decent sized town) in order to find dress robes _the day before the dance_ and not only wasted an hour arguing over which way the tailor's shop was before finally finding it (he was convinced Albus had gotten momentarily possessed by Claire), they took another three hours to decide the fine details, materials, style, and fit of their robes. By the time they were complete, Scorpius realized that dressing for important events was all a sham. All of their dress robes looked exactly the same to him, though James and Al insisted that there were subtle differences. _That's just what the tailors want you to think, I'm sure._

When they finally got back to the castle, Scorpius realized that there was a package on his bed from home. A package containing fresh dress robes that appeared nearly identical to the ones he wasted several hours acquiring. And they had just been _sitting there_ , waiting to be discovered. Scorpius hated life and all of its cruel ironies.

After that, he found out at dinner that the girls had gone on a spa day that followed a brief dress run.

At first he thought he had misheard them. They did not spend only two hours between _all six of them_ (the six of them including party-avoiding Rose, girly-girl Lily, stubborn Claire, indecisive Tam, that's-probably-too-expensive Miranda, and sporty, never-worn-a-dress-since-age-seven Penny) on dress shopping. There was no way that they all found exactly what they needed that quickly. And there was definitely no way that, after only two hours of shopping, they had the time to take a break and have a relaxing _spa day_ while he had waited and waited for multiple eternities inside another store.

But they did. Because the universe was unfair.

Next time, he vowed to go looking for formal ware with the female half of the group. They seemed a lot more efficient.

It all lead up to this moment, the moment that would supposedly make it all worth it. It was a bit of a tall order, but this precious moment, the one in which he picks up his date and has one of the best nights of his Hogwarts life, was supposed to make him forget all of the awful and overwhelming build up behind this.

It still felt a little underwhelming and nerve-wracking, though, waiting with Al in the gryffindor common room. Why was he sweating, exactly? He was literally just coming by to get Rose and maybe say hi to the others.

At least in that regard, he wasn't alone. Albus was tugging at his collar, looking immensely uncomfortable despite his excitement over taking out Pen.

"Hey, guys," a voice called from behind him, and although he was on pins and needles, he felt a little better. Lily had that calming sort of affect on people. "Rose and Pen will be out shortly. Miranda is forcing them to put makeup on and it's not going well. Rose nearly took off An's arm when she plucked an eyelash due to reflexes, and Penny keeps wiggling, which is making it rather hard to apply the mascara. Claire was already picked up by James, though." The Potter girl stepped in front of them and did a little twirl. "Be honest, how do I look?"

Lily was dressed rather simply for her usual cutesy tastes, wearing only a patterned blue dress that extended just past her knees, silver bracelets and earrings, and a pair of slightly elevated silver sandals. Her hair was straightened and she clearly had some basic cosmetics on her face, but other than that Lily appeared completely normal. Scorpius was surprised; he had expected the gryffindor to be decked out in a full-scale princess dress, complete with a tiara and nine inch heels. Huh.

"You look fine," Albus blurted out, and then Scorpius elbowed him in retaliation. "I mean, you look really good, sis. Really nice."

"Yeah, you look great," the pale-haired slytherin tried, and Lily smiled in relief.

"Thanks, you two. I was worried that it was a little too simple, but I plan on doing a lot of dancing, and I wanted to be comfortable," she explained. "But if you two think it's alright I doubt anyone else will care."

"Oh, of course nobody is going to care, Lily," came the voice of another girl. Said girl was Miranda, who was accompanied silently by Tammy. "You're practically a model. You could literally wear a dress made of mud and still be prettier than half the female population at the school."

"You act like you're not gorgeous either, An," Tammy snorted, rolling her eyes. "Out of all of us, I didn't think you would be the one to wear the runway gown."

"It's not technically a runway gown, Tam," Miranda rebutted. Everyone internally agreed not to point out the fact that the ravenclaw was blushing self consciously. "I just never get a reason to try on clothes like this. Now I have an excuse." Miranda was indeed wearing the equivalent of a ballgown, though; she had on a navy blue dress that slipped down to her heels. The white bodice was broken into triangle-like segments, each one containing either gold spots or navy lace over the basic material, and each part was trimmed in gold. Speaking of gold, gold flecks dotted the navy skirt on the way down, gold heels adorned her feet, a gold and blue necklace and bracelet set was worn, and gold earrings pierced her ears. Only a thin set of navy straps held the extravagant contraption up, and Scorpius was almost afraid to call it overkill. He had the sneaking suspicion that if he did, An would have no problems taking off one of her shoes and attacking him with it.

Luckily, with Tammy there was a lot less to take in. She wore a red dress that ended at her knees and was styled to look like roses were stuck to the fabric. From there, the only things he could distinguish was two silver bracelets, silver heels, and red earrings. He opted for looking at Tammy rather than Miranda. His eyes could physically process her.

"So, if you're out here," Scorpius began to reason, "then that means that the girls inside must be - "

"I'm here!" Penny called, practically falling out of the room with a huff. "I couldn't find my necklace and I started to panic. I was running around in circles _everywhere_." Scorpius, though Pen was certainly an interesting new addition to the commons, couldn't help but gaze back at Albus. His expression was far too entertaining to let pass.

"You're pretty good," the dark haired boy muttered, eyes blown wide. Part of that was due to the fact that she was actually wearing something other than her school uniform, cloak, or regular t shirts and jeans. "I mean, you look really pretty. Really good," he attempted to amend.

"He means to say that he thinks you look beautiful," Scorpius interjected. His best friend coughed a little.

"Yeah, what he said," he finally murmured in defeat. Luckily for him, Penny didn't seem to mind, and she giggled slightly at his struggles instead. Scorpius still had no idea what she saw in Al, but he was happy for the Potter teen that she did see it. Heaven knew that Al needed all the good influences and support he could get.

Though he wasn't lying when he said that Penny was beautiful - the strawberry blonde was in fact amazing, especially with makeup. In a pink dress (an honest to god pink dress on the quidditch-obsessed girl who hadn't even owned a dress in years) with gold detailing, rose gold jewelry, and winged heels, she had clearly made an effort for this. An effort for Al.

The boy really didn't see that she liked him too, did he?

Of course, this only left Rose, and the thought of her in evening ware was terrifying. She could be borderline intimidating in an old jumper and sweatpants, let alone a gown and _heels_. Honestly, he didn't know if he _wanted_ to imagine her in heels. The thought of Rose in anything but tennis shoes or worn-out flats seemed wrong somehow.

" - I got it!" Rose cried victoriously from behind the door, and Scorpius began to steel his nerves from imminent shock. His best friend was about to come out in a _dress_. This was a day for the history books. "It took me a while, but I got the stupid buckle to go through the hole!"

Then out she came.

. . . he was sorely unprepared.

Rose Weasley was in a full-scale evening gown, one that trialing down to the ground and freaking _sparkled_. It didn't exactly blend in color-wise either; the thing was bright turquoise (a little like her eyes, actually) and actually was charmed to turn colors under the light, so the back folds began evaporating into shades of warm purple, red, yellow, and gold. It had only one thick shoulder strap and a thin belt, coupled with an owl necklace and an assortment of silver jewelry. Lastly, she wasn't wearing tennis shoes like he had often seen; she had on silver studded sandals, brand new ones, without any scuffs or dirt.

This certainly wasn't Rose. Rose didn't put on clothes fit for a premiere. She didn't curl her hair and let Miranda tediously apply makeup. She certainly didn't get to look like _this_ and make him feel like his stomach aspired to be a gymnast. This had to be an impostor.

"I know what you're thinking: it's way too much, right?" impostor-Rose said, tugging at her skirt with a reluctant acceptance. "I had no idea what to get, because I never go to these sorts of things, but then Lily found this and forced me into it. It was the first and only thing I tried on, but she bought it immediately and then shoved her shoes at me, so I'm trapped." She made a face. "Is there a way that we can kill our well-meaning friends and hide their bodies? Or that we could possibly skip the Yule Ball and go for a food run instead?" Okay. So maybe this was the real Rose.

It was at this moment that he realized he had been staring at her like an idiot in the plain view of everybody. An was trying not to smile and Lily was giggling rather mysteriously in the background. Right.

"Unfortunately, no. This is supposed to be a right of passage or something else," he responded after a minute, because that's what he was supposed to do. That's what they _did_ do. They engaged in banter, they mocked eachother, they suffered through boring events together, and this was just who they were. They were best friends, and this was normal.

Despite the formality not being normal.

"A right of passage? Into what, the start of sixth year?"

"Exactly. A life-changing event, I'm sure." He extended an arm, and far-too-fancy-to-be-Rose-but-I-guess-she-kinda-is-her Rose took it. Nobody else moved. "Well, we're all going, aren't we?"

"Actually, An, Tam, and I are all waiting for our dates. You guys go ahead, though. We'll meet you there," Lily smiled. She waved, and that was essentially their cue to leave.

"Right, see you!" he called back, but it was no use. The girls had already sunken back into their own little worlds.

Ah, onto the Yule Ball. Wonderful.

* * *

As soon as they got to the event, as predicted, Al asked Penny if she wanted to dance and drug her away, stranding Rose and Scorpius by the entrance. It felt vaguely familiar to fourth year. They wound up camping out at the refreshment table, making up conversations for the people across the room that they couldn't hear and eating tons of cake and (thankfully not spiked) punch. At some point, they had even seen Hugo and Faye. She was wearing a dark cream dress with a white lace top, a butterfly necklace around her neck and her black hair falling over her shoulders. On her left wrist was a muggle watch, and when Rose noticed it, she squealed and whispered something about it being a birthday gift from Hugo, who had been smiling the whole time without fail. He had to lean down in order for her to whisper something into ear, even though she was already wearing heeled lace boots, but they appeared to be having fun despite the difficulties the height problems must have caused. They looked happy.

It wasn't as if they were completely isolated and abandoned, though. During their wait, he saw James snogging Claire in a closet when some unsuspecting fourth year flung open the door. Claire's black and gold dress had ridden up, her hair was a bit of a mess, and her turquoise jewelry had fallen onto the floor at some point. James paid no head to the startled (and probably traumatized) student, though. He continued kissing her and fumbled around with one hand to find the knob and close the door. Clearly, they still hated eachother.

This also didn't account for the rest of the friend group. Lily, Tam, Miranda, and their dates (Tammy's was actually Chase from the slytherin quidditch team, so it was a welcome surprise) stopped by to greet them, despite the fact that they soon moved on and began partying like normal people.

Like they should probably be doing.

Frankly, he was already having an okay time just sitting in the corner like an absolute idiot. Rose made it fun, somehow, even if he felt like she seemed way out of his league at the moment. But, you know, they clearly couldn't sit in the corner and eat snacks for the entire time. They would have to dance.

How does one go about asking Rose Weasley to dance?

"Hey, Rosie," he tried. Good. He still had control of his mouth, if not his mind. "Do you want to maybe . . . I don't know, do something?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Do something? Something as in . . . "

"Maybe we could get up," he added lamely, quite aware of the fact that he was incapable of forming coherent thoughts around his best friend. This never happened. What was it about that silly dress that made this so difficult?

"Yes, Scorpius, and after we get up, then what?" Okay, Rose was totally messing with him now.

"Like, dance."

"Alone? That's going to be awkward." As the redhead took another sip from her glass, bracelets jangling against the cup, he could have sworn he saw her smirk.

"You know that I'm talking about together, Rose," the slytherin finally said, nose scrunched up.

"Is there an invitation in there that I sense," she teased, and yep, she was totally smirking. He knew it. "or are we still talking hypotheticals?"

"Rose Weasley, would you like to get up and actually dance at the Yule Ball with me?" That was it. That was the best he was able to do. He was done.

"Okay." To his surprise, she stood up, accomplishing the task far too elegantly, and held out a hand. "Now, was that so hard? You've been chatting with me like a normal person all evening. I was starting to think you'd been replaced with an evil twin."

"Oh, please. I'm not dressed like a goddess," he rebutted. For a split second, the slytherin thought he might have broken her, because Rose froze up with a face full of red. Then the moment passed, she breathed again, and he tried to convince himself that he had imagined it all.

"I'd certainly hope not. Turquoise isn't your color," she replied, and now that he was standing, she pulled him towards the front. Even though he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she found these social gatherings as painful as he did, the teenager had the sneaking suspicion that she had been waiting for this.

They started awkwardly swaying to the first song, mainly because they had no idea how to dance like the rest of the population and the song was slower, but after a while they concluded that nobody cared about how they looked, so it didn't matter. He was fairly certain that he stepped on her toes several times, another party-goer almost fell on both of them, and Lily still found ways to sneak intruding glances at them from across the Ball, but surprisingly he had a great time. Especially since dancing doesn't necessarily need conversation, so he didn't have to worry about being an uncharacteristically awkward socialite.

It was . . . nice. The Yule Ball was nice.

* * *

It wasn't that he saw Rose any differently as a person after seeing her in that dress. He was just suddenly hyper-aware of her presence whenever she came into the room, like that small, suppressed part of himself from first year that couldn't help liking the Weasley girl was opened up. Well, maybe not opened up, but that little suppressed part became a little less suppressed. A little more prominent.

The fact that she was at his side throughout most of every single day and he loved her company didn't exactly help.

Scorpius was afraid that Albus, even through his Penny-induced haze, was starting to notice, and if Lily and An's terrifying smiles were any indication, then they were too.

But it was fine. There was no way he could be regaining his hopeless crush on Rose that he thought he had shoved away years ago. He couldn't be, because she was his best friend, and that was all. She didn't like him like that. Nope. Not at all. Not a snowflake's chance in hell. Yup.

. . . it's probably fine.

* * *

Yes, he was still playing quidditch this year.

No, Albus didn't force him, he did it entirely by himself. He figured that, since he was a rather quick seeker, he would attempt to make the game as short as possible for all the other people like him who hated just _sitting_ there for hours on end.

Yes, Rose came and cheered him and Al on loudly at every match.

No, he wasn't counting (but she had already come to the first 4 of the season, even though she couldn't get away for the second game until halfway through the action - not that he noticed or anything).

Yes, Penny always came as well, but it was obvious that she was only there mainly for one of the two slytherin players.

Yes, that player was Albus.

Yes, Albus was still oblivious about Pen. It wouldn't be Al if he wasn't.

Yes, the rest of the group always arrived too, but next to the two girls, they faded into the background slightly. Just a little.

Yes, this format of mental interrogation was getting a little repetitive. But Scorpius needed to keep the facts straight in his mind.

This next match was against gryffindor, and he didn't want to be confused or distracted or out of it. The seeker on that team was really good so far and he really wanted to be prepared so he could win.

He actually cared about this sport. Weird.

As he made his way onto the field and mounted his broom, however, all the strategies and yes and no certainties about the game he had been listing in his head flew out the window. James and his girlfriend (it wasn't official, but all of them, Claire included, continuously teased James about it, and he never bothered denying it) were in the very front, shouting that slytherin would win. Hugo (now with Faye in tow, as they had done essentially everything together since the Yule Ball) was wearing a green and black scarf, which was a small show of support, but one to be appreciated.

And, of course, how could he forget about the rest of them? Lily, An, Tam, and Faye, who had been miraculously roped into holding it in her lap, were all carrying parts of the sign they had so carefully constructed last year. But behind them all on the tallest stand were Rose and Penny, cheering them on despite the fact that Ro still knew next to nothing about quidditch. But she made an effort for them.

In the end, he did win. Though having them in the audience helped quit a bit.

* * *

Rose grabbed him by the hand and began to tug him away. "Scorpius, you have to run. Now. You have to hide me away somewhere, and you have to hide yourself."

"Huh?" he questioned, getting up out of his chair in confusion. Currently they were in the library, and Rose had come to meet him and help out with one of his essays. Thank merlin that she was good at these types of things; Al was a terrible study partner. His grades were passable, true, but Scorpius was nearly at the top of his class and Rose was undeniably the best out of all the girls thanks to her near-perfect memory. "But what about that transfiguration paper on the history of - "

"There's no time for that!" she hissed, clenching his shoulder now and picking up his bag. "We have to leave this place _right now_. I'm pretty sure he saw me go in here."

"What? Who saw you, Rosie?"

"ROSE, COME OUT ROSE!" came a rather loud and definitely female voice from the front, and her visible cringe was enough to convince him.

"Actually, I'm sure you're right. Tell me later when we get to the hufflepuff common room."

She took a brief moment to pause him and say, "Why hufflepuff?"

"Does that girl sound like the kind of person who would make hufflepuff?" Rose considered the question for a second.

"Good point." So off they went, ducking out the back entrance of the library and weaving their way through changing staircases, trying their best to avoid the source of said voice. When they ran up to the hufflepuff dorms and banged loudly, asking for Penny, the blonde let them in without protest or question. Actually, they had caught her at just the right time. She was leaving on a date with Albus.

Wow. How times had changed.

"Bloody hell, that was close," Rose breathed as she sunk into the hufflepuff chair, which was a bright canary color set next to the fireplace. Scorpius sank into it next to her, glad to finally be able to relax again.

"You said it," the slytherin sighed, looking at her sideways. "Though I still don't know who we were frantically avoiding."

"Well, I suppose I do owe you some details on the matter. This is partially about you," she began, straightening up. "Do you know the girl Juliana Vain?"

"I think I might have seen her in the stands. She's generally pretty nice, though. Smart witch. Why?" he inquired, scrunching up his nose. "You don't mean to say that . . . "

"Well, from what I gathered, some second years pranked her by slipping a love potion into her snacks, and then she became infatuated with the first person she saw, which was apparently you. I'm guessing she was at last night's quidditch game," the redhead explained. "Of course, this morning, she realized that I went to the Yule Ball with you, and now she's attempting to kill me." The clever, independent, nearly shock-resistant gryffindor girl shuddered in a borderline state of fear. "You know, she's got quite the arsenal of spells, that one. And a dastardly good aim, if you ask me."

"Wow." The words finally came out, as there wasn't much else he could say. "That's . . . something."

" . . . that's it?" she pondered out loud. "I'm surprised you're not trying to make a quip about girls chasing after you, to be honest." He shook his head and threw a lazy arm around her shoulders.

"Actually, I kind of feel bad for her. And in need of a nap. I know we only ran up a few flights of stairs, but I feel exhausted." He yawned as if to prove his point. "Let's just wait out the storm in here. I'll study later." She nodded, suddenly feeling rather tired and worn out herself. Much of the past half hour had been spent trying to avoid a charmed Juliana Vain, and that tended to take quite a bit out of a person.

"Okay, Scorp." And then she was out like a light, leaning heavily on his shoulder. Eventually he nodded off as well, and when they woke up, they finally got a chance to work on his paper. The Juliana problem and the rest of the world lurked outside the common room, but none of the hufflepuffs were bothered by the intruding teens, so they allowed them to stay well into the night before everyone left for dinner. It was calm and rather cozy.

A rare, peaceful evening, despite the death threats over Rose's head.

* * *

Oh yeah, the Triwizard Tournament was still being hosted until spring, like always. Right.

To be perfectly honest, most of the hype had worn off after the Yule Ball, for which Scorpius was grateful. He couldn't remember the names of the candidates as it was, so attempting to keep up with popular gossip over the event itself would have been murder. Of course, he still had to pay attention to some extent, and that's why he was here. Great.

So, this was the first event: trying to get past a group of enchanted warriors to reach their chest in the middle of the field. Each player had a different selection, though; every tribe of warrior was from a different background. There were terracotta soldiers, egyptian priests, and ancient necromancers from Europe, each one created with magic by the school headmasters to look and act like real magicians of old. Each set of 10 'people' took their job of protecting the golden chest from the contestants very seriously, and they were all equipped to fight with a limited arsenal of spells based on their roll.

It seemed interesting enough, of course, but if real danger ever arose, Hogwarts had become far more aware of safety regulations over the years. The games were a lot less risky than before, which took away some of the allure. Also, Scorpius had a quiz (or five) he needed to study for. Taking several hours out of his day to watch the proceedings seemed dumb.

By all means, it wasn't _dull_ , and he did want his school to win, but some of it just seemed pointless. Cool, but pointless. And again, five tests he doesn't want to fail could have been prepared for in this time.

" **And now, we begin with the drawing!** " echoed a voice across the stadium. Well, he supposed it was starting. Next to him, practically having a conniption fit, was Rose. She was _bursting_ with excitement, an excitement he didn't really think this event deserved.

"Isn't this amazing? Our first Triwizard Tournament!" the redhead squealed, and Miranda, who regularly enjoyed these kinds of events, nodded vigorously as well.

"Yeah, I know, right? This is going to be awesome!" she grinned.

"Agreed, but why exactly is it mandatory?" Albus spoke up from the other side of Scorpius. "I mean, I get that it's a big deal, but I was going to redo a test today. Now I'll have to wait until after the weekend and see if my professor will let me do it in study hall."

"I love this kind of stuff," Penny gushed, eyes lit up as she gazed at the playing field. "I'm with you, Ro; this is amazing!"

"Yup, amazing," Al echoed, looking at his girlfriend (and yeah, they were dating at this point, _finally_ \- Scorpius got confirmation).

"Aren't you excited?" Lily asked the slytherin curiously. "You haven't said a word, Scorp. Everyone else seems happy."

"I'm happy," he protested. "I just have other stuff to do is all."

"But isn't this cool?" Rose butted in, far too joyful. "I just can't believe we got such good seats! If there's ever a moment when I can't see, I'm climbing on your shoulders, okay?" He nodded with neutral resignation.

"Alright, fine. But I still say, like Albus, that it's stupid that this is mandatory."

" **And now comes our first competitor, Maya Abernathy from Beauxbatons Academy!** " Everyone cheered as the slim, pale girl walked up to the stand, clad in blue. She held up a piece of paper she had just drawn. " **Maya shall battle the necromancers!** " The stands erupted into a flurry of excitement, eager to see what the teen had in store. Maya, on the other hand, looked terrified. She clearly hadn't anticipated this.

There were three sets of doors beneath the stands, each one containing a golden chest to be carried out and the small band of soldiers. The third door opened and out marched a group of dreary men and women, all wearing the styles of 16th century England. Each one was holding a wand, and as they set the chest in the middle of the grass, it was apparent that they meant business.

" **Go!** " the officiator yelled, and the magician constructs began attacking. One threw a whip of flames in her direction and Maya ducked behind a rock, narrowly avoiding the fate of third degree burns. Seconds later, another came from behind and cast a traditional stupefy charm, causing the girl to fly backwards in a decidedly dramatic fashion. All in all, based on the first few seconds, Scorpius didn't have much hope for her.

However, she quickly made a recovery. Maya jumped back up and invoked a summoning spell, and within seconds a small pendant was in her hands. Rose practically leapt forwards when it happened, eyes wide.

"She's incredible!" she gasped, nearly falling over the railing. "She made one of those. She's a genius!"

"Am I missing something, or . . . Wasn't she just doing miserably a few moments ago?" Scorpius questioned. The redhead pointed at the charm.

"That's an incredibly rare piece of magic right there. She's from Beauxbatons, right? They're more gifted in defensive and theoretical magic than offensive stuff. What she has in her hands is a very powerful charm. It's meant to defend the owner against nearly any magical attacks, and it's dastardly hard to craft. Only the maker of the object can use it, and it takes years of experience to make as well as tons of magic." Rose breathed out, pure wonder in her eyes. "She must be an amazing charm maker."

"She's sure got you charmed," Scorpius commented. She whacked his arm.

"Just shush up and pay attention. Maya's smart, I can feel it."

Maya got up, brushing off her clothes. Slipping the charm around her neck, she began walking calmly up to the podium. Several more attacks were thrown at her, but the constructs soon realized that it wasn't effective. One near the chest spread their arms, and out of the earth came a thick black mist. This obscured nearly everything, but with a lumos charm, Maya was no longer blinded. However, when the mist dismissed itself, skeletons, wraiths, and dementors were crawling from the ground.

That's right. Necromancers. They had the natural ability to summon armies of the dead and creatures of darkness.

Luckily, Maya still had her wits about her, so she instantly set to casting the patronus charm. Though many dementors got close, the spell warded them off, and although the skeletons looked frightening, their joints were rather frail, so a swift kick to the knee with her thick blue boots would send them flying. Wraiths also seemed to dislike the light from her wand, so while she momentarily dropped the patronus charm, she created a quick 'lumos' sphere and they seemed to stay back.

Soon, though, more of the necromancers caught on to the idea that, while their magic wouldn't halt her progress while she had on the charm, the naturally-occurring powers of creatures could. Wraiths appeared by the tons, as did boggarts, sprites, ogres, and a whole host of other monsters. Maya cast a quick sectumsempra at the first magician, and in seconds, he crumpled to dust and the beings he summoned slunk back into the earth. Biting her lip, she rubbed the charm around her neck for good luck and made a wild dash for the chest, trying to defend herself the best she could while also throwing curses at the necromancer constructs.

All the monsters, realizing what she was attempting to do, dove after the girl just as she exploded yet another soldier and was about to grab the heavy gold case. She squeaked in borderline terror, jumping to snag hold on the object before getting buried in a mountain of darkness. The constructs, for one, seemed rather pleased by the way they trapped her.

"ASCENDIO!" Maya screamed at the top of her lungs, and out she was shot from the pile, chest in hands. As she began to fall, she levitated herself slowly down, and the onlooking students began to squeal, clapping and whistling and generally congratulating her. Even Scorpius began to grudgingly applaud the Beauxbatons girl; for her first time doing anything remotely like this, she did incredibly well.

Maya, on the other hand, just looked more exhausted and relieved than proud of her achievement, and the instant the magician group was dissolved by the headmasters and she was guided to her seat, she promptly collapsed. It was like she hadn't known if she could do it up until then, and maybe she didn't. But either way, her performance was commendable.

"I told you! I told you she would do well!" Rose cried, flinging her arms around Scorpius' neck and practically tackling him into a hug. Okay, he had never thought that Rose, someone who barely tolerated quidditch, would be super into the Triwizard Tournament of all things, but he supposed she had a reason to be hyped this time. If the next person who competed did anything remotely like this, it was sure to be incredible.

"She was awesome!" Penny affirmed herself. "That's going to be really hard to top."

"Hard, not impossible," Miranda noted. "Though yeah, she's amazing."

From there, the next battles presumed. Boris, a boy from Durmstrang Institute, ended up fighting the egyptians, and with a few well placed spells he managed to get rid of them with relative ease. Much like Maya, he played smart and fast, thinking on his feet and proving himself a relatively good competitor. Scorpius, though he kind-of began to tune out the world when he realized he had his stuff with which to study for exams, could at least acknowledge that.

However, when Garret Shelverton, a ravenclaw from Hogwarts, came out to face the terracotta warriors, he didn't do what the others did. He hid out of sight for the first several seconds, not making a sound, thinking about what to do. When he finally came out, he levitated the stone warriors off the ground, petrifying one, disarming another, and walking rather calmly to the center. Though many fought back, casting a whole slew of spells at him, with a flick of his wand he opened up a crack in the earth that swallowed half the constructs up. He made taking the chest all too easy, and though Scorpius would have been inclined to clap along with the rest of his impressed piers, Garret was far too smug about it all. The few times he had interacted with the ravenclaw, Garret had always seemed well rounded with a fair amount of cockiness, but now he had a real reason to be cocky.

But all in all, he supposed it wasn't all bad. Actually, he had never seen his friends so enthused.

* * *

Scorpius remembered next to nothing about the Triwizard Tournament. This is ironic, mainly because his friends couldn't stop raving about the events for the duration of the month. Albus and Rose, being his best friends, recognized the fact that he didn't really care about the event beyond a casual interest and didn't force the subject down his throat. Instead, Albus whined about terrible teachers and talked about Penny, while Rose continued to complain about the stupidity of giving out finals just before Christmas.

Now everything was over, Beauxbatons had won the Tournament (for possibly the first time ever; apparently Maya _was_ smart), and everything was thankfully back to normal, while Scorpius still basked in the idea that he would never be forced to keep up with gossip on the contest again. He could now proceed to empty his mind of everything related to the contestants (and he had learned quite a bit about these people that he would probably never interact with again, and most of the information was a collection of absolutely useless facts he had picked up from his overly-involved and curious friends).

"So, which quidditch team do you think will win the most matches this year?" Hugo asked the table. They were in Hogsmead, lounging at the Three Broomsticks, and they had practically claimed this table by now, a lot like how they had claimed the large car on the Hogwarts Express.

"You know, I really think hufflepuff stands a fighting chance this year," Penny commented, and James nodded. Claire, who sat next to him, bit back a smile. Thankfully, they didn't argue every second of the day since the Yule Ball - now it was more of a banter than fighting. It reminded the slytherin of him and Rose, actually.

"Yeah, I heard they got a really good seeker," the eldest Potter agreed. "They've been doing a lot better than before."

"Actually, gryffindor has an amazing keeper. They've been winning a lot of matches," Tammy added.

"And let's not forget Scorpius and Al. Their team won last year, and they've had a lot of practice. Scorpius is probably the fastest seeker out there," Rose mentioned. "And I don't even enjoy quidditch all that much."

"You come to every game now!" Miranda protested.

"As a way of cheering on the boys. Though it would be a lot more entertaining with everyone in the stands."

"Yeah, but if they aren't playing, it gives you an excuse to not pay attention," the ravenclaw pointed out, crossing her arms. Rose wasn't the slightest bit put out.

"Yup!" she remarked cheerfully, then continued to nurse her butter beer. At some point, she finished off hers and stole Scorpius', declaring that it was payback for all those games she showed up to. He replied by saying he thought it was a perk of friendship. She said that butter beer was another perk. Needless to say, she won that debate.

Scorpius Malfoy didn't think he would ever have to say this, but he had missed the days when their biggest social concerns were over quidditch, and he was so glad that they were back.

* * *

Christmas time at the manor was always more of a solitary event. For the most part it was nice - fun, even - , but the Malfoys always tended to hole up with a small tree and a few gifts in the center of the house, enjoying the day with just the three of them. There was pie and turkey and potatoes in the parlor, and they would drink eggnog and relax in the quiet recluses of their home. Sometimes his mother's family would come over, and Astoria's parents, Scorpius' aunt and her family would arrive, bringing gifts and food and laughter into the huge house with high ceilings. Other times his Malfoy grandparents would come, thin smiles across their lips and expensive boxes in tow, though their traditions were rather . . . well, traditional, and he felt as though the holiday had become formal just because they arrived.

However, all these moments were far and few between, and they often spent Christmas as a day of reflection and relative peace. Never before had the entire Potter-Weasley clan invited them over.

"Well, we can't very well say no to such a kind offer," his mother had instantly said, smiling at the note. "I think it would be fun to see your friends' families, honey." She had mused Scorpius' hair then, and due to Rose and the others he had sadly grown accustomed to it, so he let her ruffle his head without complaint. "What say you, Draco?" His father, who had been reading the paper when the note was delivered, simply shrugged.

"I'm fine with it. Potter's saved my hide a lot in the past; it might be nice to see how his family's doing." So, with no objections voiced, the Malfoys went to spend Christmas Eve and the following two days at the Burrow.

The first thing he noticed when Albus opened the door? This was _not_ their habitual quiet Christmas.

The smaller children were chasing eachother around on the floor, dressed in little woolen jumpers, while plates of food steamed on the counter. Other than Al, there were no signs of his friends, though the living room and kitchen were a hub of energy all the same. All the adults, holding warm mugs of hot chocolate, laughed as old memories were recalled from their school days. An enormous tree stood tall and proud in the middle of the room, decked out in muggle lights and a vast array of ornaments. There were songs being lazily sung by a few women in the background, and Molly Weasly and her husband were at the stove, preparing pies and cakes with a few other relatives.

Everything was full of hustle and bustle and life, and it was so wildly different from anything that he had imagined.

"Oh, Scorpius!" Ginny called, beaming in the soft yellow light. "Harry and I haven't seen you over in forever! How have you all been?" Ah, yes. He couldn't believe he had almost forgotten about Al's mom. It really _had_ been ages since they had hung out at the Potter residence.

"Fine, Mrs. Potter," he answered, taking a moment to examine his parents. They didn't seem too uncomfortable, so he figured they would probably be fine. "How are you all? It looks like you've all been pretty busy."

"Oh, we have, but it's been a great holiday so far. It's wonderful that you and your family could make it this year." The redhead held out a hand to Astoria. "I don't believe I've ever gotten a chance to introduce myself. I'm Ginny Potter, Albus' mom."

"It's a pleasure to finally get to talk to you," his mother replied, starting to speak for the first time since coming in the door. "I can't believe we've never really interacted until now, what with the boys being so close. And I'm sure you know Draco." The Malfoy managed a smile.

"I do, but only from school. I'm sure you've changed a lot since then, though. Scorpius is a great kid, you know," Ginny added, not a trace of maliciousness. With the slightest bit of embarrassment, Draco Malfoy laughed.

"Yes, he is. Thanks."

"I'm just gonna start taking Scorp upstairs, Mom," Albus said before slowly backing away. "I have a feeling this is going to take a while."

"Uh huh, darling," Mrs. Potter replied, so Scorpius was dragged away in record time to the long staircase. The long, long, almost never-ending staircase. Albus, used to climbing up a virtual mountain to reach the top floor, didn't even look winded. Scorpius considered himself athletic enough, but he shouldn't be required to do exercise on holiday break; that's far too much effort.

"You made it!" squealed Lily as she whipped open the solitary door at the end of the stairs, hugging the two boys quickly before ushering them in. "We've all been waiting for you to finally come up."

Inside the seemingly small room was essentially a lounge, an impossibly big space crammed into such a tiny floor due to magic. At the very end was a muggle TV (Hermione and Ron's birthday gift to Mr. Weasley several years ago) set over a fireplace, and a selection of cozy couches surrounded it, each one slightly different from the other. Soft glowing lights hung from the ceiling as decoration, and in the right corner was a smaller tree. James and Claire were lounging on the cushions together; apparently she'd been invited to stay for Christmas Eve before going home that night. To the right of the door from which Scorpius had just come in was a small kitchen, just wide enough for a few people to slide into, with bar stools by the island, two of which were currently occupied by Hugo and Faye (go figure, there). Between the kitchen and the fireplace area was a dining table adorned with holiday snacks that he could only assume Mrs. Weasley had made herself, and Miranda and Tam sat in the provided chairs and munched on gingerbread. All in all, it reminded him a lot of the slytherin common room, save for the happy holiday colors it was decorated in.

In addition to that, there were five branch offs from the main room, each one leading to something different. In the first, to the right of the door, was a girls bathroom, and next to it there was a bathroom for the boys (each one had doors and labels, thank merlin - he probably wouldn't have remembered which was which). An assortment of cozy bunk beds were in the third addition, the doorway parallel to the table, each one prepped with presumably hand-made quilts. The next opening, which was directly across from the bedroom, lead to a little nook for reading, and bookshelves lined the walls. The last one, right off what was essentially the living room, was an observatory, complete with a huge telescope in the far corner and a retractile roof.

It was homey and warm and inviting, and having his friends present made it even more incredible. He wasn't used to seeing them all together outside of school.

"Hey, Scorpius!" Penny told him cheerfully. Like Lily, she had been waiting near the door. "Nice to see you again. We just need Rosie and the whole gang will be here." She sipped her drink with a smile.

"Wait, where is Rose? Clearly Al and James are here, so . . . " he trailed off, brows knit. "Hmmm. Any idea where she is?" Apparently destiny decided to answer instead.

"Al is here, right? I know he left a while ago to wait downstairs for Scorpius but I can't find him anymore. I hope he came to his senses and decided to wait up here," Rose huffed, dropping into one of the chairs at the table. "Miranda, pass me the peppermint bark. I give up."

"Hi, my dearest cousin," Albus remarked, sliding in across from her. "And yeah, I've finished waiting." She looked up and narrowed her eyes.

"I've been searching for you for the last ten minutes. What made you decide to go back up?" she questioned.

"I think it might have been me," Scorpius jutted in, clearing his throat, and he liked to think that the redhead brightened.

"Scorpius!" she grinned, running up and squeezing him. "When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. You really didn't see Al and I walking up the stairs?"

"Nope. They go on forever, don't they?"

"I'd say. What is this place?" The gryffindor waved around a dismissive hand.

"Just a room Uncle Harry helped Grandpa install after we were all born. He figured that when we visited, it might be nice to have a floor for all of us to roam free in, to have our own space sometimes. The Burrow only has so many rooms," she snorted, gesturing to the space ahead. "And besides, now we get to do things."

"Things?" he questioned, but nobody responded. Instead, the cousins tugged him to the couch, and everyone else followed. He noticed that they were all wearing knitted jackets, scarves, or hats made from mismatched wool. "So, holiday clothes?"

"Courtesy of Grandma," James explained, tugging at his own scarf. "Made for family members or for people who are going to be family. Like Aunt Hermione right before they got married."

"Miranda, Tam, Penny, Faye, and Claire have homemade items, though," he noted.

"At this point, we might as well be family," An pointed out. "Some of us more than most." Claire pulled up her handmade vest to cover her blush. Penny didn't show much of a reaction, but Albus reached over and squeezed her hand, which made her bite back a smile.

"Now who's going to start the movies? We've been waiting for _ages_ to do stuff because we wanted everyone to be together, " Hugo threw out. "I'm getting the food. You guys should set everything up." In seconds, all the food from the table had been laid out on the floor, the dishes laden with frosted sweets, bon bons, popcorn, candied fruit, and a whole array of treats he had never seen before. As the TV whirled into picture, they all grabbed freely off of the dishes. Tam, displaying her rare slytherin side, spilled chocolate chips down Penny's shirt, and Penny laughed and threw them back. James ate the ones that fell onto the couch, though Claire viciously scolded him for it, and while she wasn't paying attention Al accidentally nudged her and she fell off the cushion. Albus furiously apologized, mainly due to the death glare she gave him, and Lily laughed. Miranda sputtered, since Lily laughing at Albus of all people was unheard of, and Rose grinned furiously due to An's expression. He squeezed her hand, smiling as well, and before everyone knew it the film started.

Naturally, not one of them had paid attention to the first few minutes of exposition (apparently the first movie was something called Elf) and Rose, a veteran of the film, had to catch them up continuously on parts, though Hugo and Albus groaned in annoyance. By the time the second and third one started, they were all just as divided about the movie and still slightly clueless. Maybe it was just Scorpius being cheesy, but he was pretty sure that it was perfect.

* * *

Molly called them down for dinner three times before they heard her. They were on the top floor, there were at least five people talking at all times, and movies were playing, so it was to be expected. What wasn't to be expected was the firework show Uncle George sent into their room as a means of gaining their attention. Albus dramatically claimed that he nearly died of shock, but Penny kissed his cheek and he stopped talking, so they all cheerfully ignored him.

Now they were downstairs, holding hands with random Weasley-Granger-Malfoy people, and his palms were starting to get sweaty. The prayer (or was it a poem or a hymn or a proverb or . . . ) that Mrs. Granger ("Don't call me Mrs. Weasley," she had said, "Because that's my mother in law. Call me Mrs. Granger or Mrs. Hermione." Needless to say, calling Rose's mom by her first name seemed weird, so he was reduced to Mrs. Granger.) was reciting differed every year, as a random person was chosen to say grace each time. Nobody did it twice, unless everybody else above the age of ten had already gone or it's been years and years. In this case, it was clearly the former.

Finally, the gods had mercy on them, and she completed her words, allowing them all to devour heaps of potatoes, casserole, turkey, stuffing, pineapple pudding, preserves, cranberry sauce, and several slices of assorted pies.

Of course, after that lead to dancing and carols in the living room, and Rose snuck away. Albus tried to, but Penny looked so enthused about the prospect he had to stay. After a moment of hesitation, Scorpius bounded after her.

"What are you doing? I thought everyone had to sing," he commented.

"I'm the exception. Al and I always tried to slip away, even when we were little. Singing isn't our strong suit," Rose explained, looking at the stairs, lost in thought.

" . . . Where are you going?" the slytherin prodded, and she wordlessly pulled him up to the top steps yet again. To the fireplace area they went, and then into the hallway next to it. She tugged him to the edge, pressing herself right against the freezing glass.

"Look at that," she told Scorpius, and he pressed his own face against the enchanted glass.

"Woah." All the stars were out, glittering against the darkened winter sky. Snowflakes fell in flurries, dotting the fields and shining in their Christmas lights. And against the bright observatory, everything had a distinct rosy tint, even them. "It's amazing."

"It's like this almost every year," she admitted. "Usually Al and I watch for a little bit before shutting ourselves away in a corner. For some reason, getting closed in and hiding in a closet with lanterns and old movies and worn muggle Christmas novels is fun. I'd rather read and spare the world from my singing."

"I bet it's not that bad," he assured her with a sideways grin. She scoffed.

"Without warming up? I kill things. Birds just drop dead mid-flight," the redhead deadpanned.

"Just don't practice around any birds, then," the pale haired boy told her seriously, and she shoved him, because her serious voice was a thousand times more assertive than his.

"Oh, hush up. Let me have this," she grumbled, face nestled in her slightly oversized Christmas sweater. Not for the first time, he thought she looked adorable.

"Fine. I'll attempt to."

"There is no try," she laughed, then realized he didn't get the joke. "Sorry, Star Wars reference. We'll have to get you up to speed on that."

"Up to speed?"

"Don't worry, you'll be a fanatic in no time."

"Or so you say."

"Yup, and my word is law." Her word _was_ law, so he dutifully remained quiet, silently enjoying their little moment of calm on what seemed to be the top of the world. Down below, their parents sang terrible songs, they explained Christmas traditions, and everyone got to see Al sing for possibly the first time ever (and he was good - really good). Surprisingly, he didn't give any of it a second thought. It was more fun this way.

* * *

On Christmas day, only Scorpius remained out of the many visitors their age. Though their absence was painfully obvious, they still managed to have a great day. James laughed so hard that eggnog poured out his nose, Al tripped over the doorstep, Lily got a candy cane stuck in her hair, Rose was brutally embarrassed by her parents (and she glared at him the second he even thought about it, so he supported the theory that she was a mind-reader), Hugo spilled chocolate pudding down his shirt, and Scorpius ended up completely soaked thanks to a prank he happened to stumble into. There were weird, stupid, uncomfortable parts, but on the whole, it was one of the best Christmases he'd ever had.

His parents, though he didn't see them nearly as much as he would have at home, managed to bond with many of the adults. Mrs. Ginny, Mrs. Granger, and his mother were practically best friends at the end of the exchange, and Rose's father could talk to his without glaring, so he considered it a small victory, or at least a sign of grudging respect. Surprisingly, Mr. Potter and Draco were rather friendly, and they chatted for quite a while about the methodology of the Ministry. Go figure, really.

As they left the next day, Mrs. Weasley (no, not Hermione) handed him and his family three knit sweaters. Though he had no idea how she got their sizes (and he was fairly sure he didn't _want_ to know), Scorpius felt touched. He pulled his on immediately, taking it as a sign that yes, he was a part of this crazy and mix-matched family they had created.

* * *

"So, the final quidditch match has already gone by," Rose commented over dinner. "And now you have nothing to do with your precious time. We still have two months until school is out, you know."

"Don't remind me. That's another eight weeks of testing," Scorpius groaned, banging his head against the table, "and I am sick of sitting in class. I love Hogwarts, but doesn't it seem a little excessive to have all your finals on the last month of the year? It's going to be a nightmare to study for."

"Personally, I don't know what you two are worried about," Albus responded with a roll of his eyes. "I'm the one who's getting Bs and Cs. You both have As in all of your classes. You're going to do fine." Rose clutched Al's hand and starred deep into his soul.

"Albus, I know you mean well, but your self esteem and pride aren't wrapped up in your grades. You have no grounds on which to say we shouldn't be worried. You do not have a perfect record to take care of," she told him slowly, trying to avoid all the big words for clarity. With a huff of indifference, Albus went back to his stew.

"Yeah, whatever. But you guys are going to be Head Boy and Girl, mark my words," the bespeckled slytherin added solemnly. Another spoon of stew vanished before their eyes.

"That's ridiculous," Scorpius instantly replied with, because him as Head Boy was never going to happen. He had good grades, was quidditch seeker, and was a favorite of his many teachers, but Head Boy was so far out of his grasp it was sad.

"You said it. Me? Head Girl? Nope," she laughed, nearly knocking over her dinner: a chicken pot pie. "And the probability of both Scorpius and I getting into the Head positions? All I'm saying is that you should keep dreaming, Al. It's kind of you to say and all, but it's completely unrealistic." Al shrugged.

"I've seen weirder," he said casually, grabbing a roll off the table and lazily dunking it into the stew. "And frankly, you guys really don't know how good you are at school, do you?"

"I'm not all that great," Scorpius said instantly, not even thinking about the response. "There are tons of students who are way better at things than me."

"No, not really, but fine. Stay in denial." The Potter boy shook his head. "It's a wonder that you - "

"Hey, Al! Hey guys!" came a friendly voice, and behind them was Penny. "I usually don't see you all. It's nice to talk to you during lunch." She plopped down next to Albus and smiled brilliantly. Albus died.

"Nice to see you too, Pen," Rose grinned, sufficiently distracted from finals. Scorpius couldn't help but marvel at how quickly the conversation had changed. _Man, if it was that easy to divert Rose, you'd think I'd be a master at it by now._ _I suppose some things will just have to remain mysteries, like who built the pyramids, how the first wands were made, and what Penny sees in Albus._

"Yeah, what made you come to the Great Hall?" the pale haired slytherin added.

"Boredom, I guess. I'm usually running out by the lake around now, or in the library trying to study, but I decided to shake things up. So, it's weird that the season's over, right?" she mused.

"Yup, really weird," Albus choked out, realizing that he had been in a silent coma of admiration for the past few seconds. "So, what did you . . . "

The conversation continued on, but after a minute or so, Rose and Scorpius lamely excused themselves, saying that they should go do 'a thing', and left the two alone.

Albus owed them.

* * *

Predictably, they both got amazing scores on the finals, but there was no way in hell that they would admit _Albus_ had been right. He was _Albus_ , and although they loved him, Scorpius and Rose would rather die than have to tell the Potter boy that he had correctly assumed that they were worried for no reason. So instead of celebrating the end of testing and their incredible results (they both scored above 95%, which was borderline impossible), they moped around the castle for the rest of the day in solitude.

Scorpius is mature. He swears.

That trend ended when Lily started worrying that they were catching a cold and began to stress out about their well-being, at which point they began to feel guilty and began to forcibly prove to her that they were absolutely fine. Albus was more confused than anyone, but it was far preferable to the smugness he would have surely sported. But hey, glass half full, testing was finally over.

Sadly, so was sixth year.

* * *

Like all the times before, the train ride back to Platform 9 and 3/4 was far too blurred and all too short. Scorpius, bundled up next to his friends in the large compartment, wore Mrs. Weasley's sweater, even though it was entirely too warm on the Hogwarts Express, but it made Rose tear up. Albus' eyes misted over a little, too, and he turned back to the window.

He had a right to be upset about the end of fifth year last time. This year had also flown by, and there was only so much time left until they left Hogwarts for good.

As he gathered his luggage, hugged people goodbye, and stepped onto the concrete to meet his parents, he thought about his friends. Tammy, the girl he had hardly known who had somehow joined their group unwittingly. Miranda, the kind, intelligent spitfire who helped make posters for the slytherin quidditch team, despite the fact that she was a die-hard ravenclaw fan. Claire, the witty and argumentative one, and James, who loved arguing right back. Penny and Lily, the kindest people he knew. Albus, his best friend since the first train ride, the one who encouraged him to play quidditch after forcibly dragging him to every game, the sarcastic one, the annoying Potter he's saddled with for life. And then, of course, there was Rose. Where did he even hope to start with Rose? She, like Al, was his best friend, but also his study partner, his constant source of banter, the genius, the one to always cheer him on, and to say that she would be the girl of his dreams (in a completely platonic way, of course) wouldn't be out of place. There was just something _more_ about her, something special, just like all of his friends. He really loved them for it.

Wow. He means that, huh?

Later he might curse himself for being so sappy, because getting all worked up about his friends like he's never going to see them again is dumb. He knows it's dumb. He was in a train car with them for hours on end just minutes ago. Why does he miss them already? _You, Scorpius Malfoy, have some baggage, and not the kind in your suitcase right now. Get it together._

He did, but only just before his parents found him on a bench, waiting. He missed them far too much. It's a bit of a problem.

* * *

The summer flew by, although it was littered with visits from his friends from school - namely Rose and Al, to be honest, but all of the others stopped by at some point. Now seventh year had begun, they were at Hogwarts, and everything was right with the world save one thing.

He was Head Boy. _Time to panic!_ screamed the little voice inside his head. _This is impossible! There's got to be a mistake! I'm not Head Boy! I blatantly told Albus it was impossible! Is the impossible now possible? Albus was right about something else? NOOOOOOOO!_

Scorpius decided, after his full blown mental meltdown had passed, that he really hated the little voice inside his head.

So, feeling as though he was taking a walk of shame, he numbly threw everything he had just unpacked back in his trunk and began moving into his new private dorm.

He briefly wondered what his new roommate would be like as he opened the door. Would she be nice, would she enjoy quidditch, would she leave her stuff everywhere, would she -

"Scorpius! This is amazing! You're Head Boy? You mean Albus was right? But he's _Albus_ ," the girl exclaimed, and it was in this moment that he realized he had nothing to worry about. Against all odds, Rose Weasley, one of his best friends, was his roommate. Suddenly being Head Boy didn't sound half as bad, and the annoying doubts lingering around his mindspace cleared out.

This would be fun.

"And you're Head Girl, Ro. Astounding, isn't it?"

"Oh, definitely," she grinned. "At least I know you won't keep me up at 2am with awful music."

"You won't recite quidditch stats."

"I won't have to worry about constantly cleaning up. Most teenage boys are slobs, if Hugo's room is anything to go off of."

"I was seriously dreading the prospect of having to continuously pick up someone else's stuff. This is going to be so much better," he breathed out in relief. "Thank merlin!" She nodded.

"Thank merlin." Scorpius could definitely work with this.

* * *

It was official; Rose Weasley was a bloody goddess and she was the best roommate, friend, etc ever. Without her living with him, he would have died.

Since they had become Head Boy and Girl, they had a lot more responsibilities. They oversaw prefects, organized the occasional field trip, organized a lot of student government meetings, and scheduled general school events, like breaks and socials. It was a pain in the butt, and since he knew how paranoid Rose was about her classes, he tended to take most of the work. He didn't mind at all, really. Just sometimes, after a lot of paperwork, he would forget to sleep or eat or study or breath, but it was fine. That's the great thing about having a roommate.

Rose continuously felt guilty about the fact that he would sneak away some of her responsibilities while she worked on homework, so she made it her personal goal to make sure he paid attention to other things, like food and oxygen and friends. Because right, they had lives beyond this dorm.

Frankly, it wasn't all that bad. He wasn't falling into disrepair or anything, and the load would lighten after the month had gone out since student council would start meeting and they would take care of a lot more of these problems. Until then, he felt a little sluggish, but for incidences like these, he was eternally grateful that Rose was his roommate.

Today she brought him and entire chocolate cake with three tiers, chocolate icing, chocolate pipping, chocolate chips in and on it, that was then drowned in chocolate shavings. This was the best random gift he had ever received, and Rose was some sort of deity. Something better than a goddess, because this thing looked heavenly.

"This is the most amazing dessert I have ever seen," he told her seriously, mouth already watering. "What did I do to earn it?" She shrugged, smirking a little at his expression, though her heart wasn't really in it. Her smirk was way too soft and amused.

"Just being you, I suppose," she hummed, pulling out a few plates. "I suppose you want a piece?"

"Yes, yes I do. So much." The redhead laughed and cut out an enormous slice, setting it down before him.

"Thanks for everything, Scorp. I know it's been a stupid amount of responsibility, and even then I've only gotten less than half of it. Again, thanks for just being you and taking it from me by force," she recited, cutting herself another piece. "I'm not eating dinner. Cake is a better replacement."

"This cake is way better than dinner," he agreed, almost done with the slice that had been bigger than his two clenched fists. "And you didn't have to."

"Oh, yes I did. So eat your cake and enjoy it. I want to see half of this sucker gone by the end of the night, and then we're watching movies. I smuggled in the portable DVD player." Pointing an accusatory finger at him, she continued with, "And don't you even _think_ about paperwork right now. We're doing that junk in the morning."

He did so without complain. It was a great night.

* * *

"So, you and my cousin are living together," Albus pointed out.

"Yup, and?" It was a fair question; there was really no where else to go with that information in a conversation.

"Oh, because I would kill to pick whoever I wanted to room with. Like, if Penny and I could be Head Boy and Girl, I'd love that." That was random, even for Al. Scorpius blinked.

"Why are we talking about this on the way to our next class?"

"I'm curious about something. What girl would you pick, if you could pick anybody to room with?" Albus pressed, and so the accompanying slytherin responded instantaneously.

"Rose. She's my best friend, and rooming with her is great." He stopped walking. "Wait, was there a test hidden in that question that I missed?" The dark haired teen looked satisfied.

"No, not anymore. Again, I was just curious. Now come on, we've got to get to transfiguration on time." With that, Albus continued on his way in silence, and after darting a few confused looks in his direction, Scorpius did as well.

* * *

In addition to seventh year bringing the rank of Head, it also brought in something else. That something - or someone - was Garret, participant in the Triwizard Tournament. And he refused to leave Rose alone.

"Today was the worst night of my life!" groaned the redhead angrily, crossing her arms with fury in her eyes. "If Garret ever bothers me again, I'll - "

"Woah, hold it, Rosie," he interjected, holding out his arms from where he had been sitting on the couch. She sighed and walked over, allowing herself to sink back into the cushions and be hugged. "Okay, are you going to murder anybody now?"

"Well . . . "

"Rose. Murder is bad. You could get expelled."

"He deserves it."

"Rose . . . "

"Fine, no," the enraged Weasley ceded, slowly calming down. "But Garret's got some real nerve." Scorpius had thought he knew who Garret was.

"Triwizard Tournament competitor?" he questioned.

"Triwizard Tournament competitor, that git," she said with distaste. "For a ravenclaw, he's a real idiot. He tried to make a pass at me in divination class, and I said no. He said that, since I was the smartest girl in school, it made sense to pursue the best, and he asked me if I wanted to go get a butter beer, and I said no again. Then he followed me down to herbology, continuously pushing me to go out with him, and I rejected him. He spent his free period outside my herbology class, starring at me from outside, and when I finally left, he cornered me again on the way to defense against the dark arts. I said yes to make him go away, then he pulled me off to the Three Broomsticks during _my_ free hour, though it meant he would miss a class." She started scowling again. Scorpius loved Rose dearly, but he didn't trust that scowl. It meant someone would feel her wrath, and he didn't feel like dying due to Garret Something or other.

"And then?" he prodded. It jolted her out of her stewing.

"Right. And then he took me on the worst date - " Rose paused to shudder at the word. " - that I've ever been on. He slung an arm around me, began talking about how compatible we were, and when I tried to leave he grabbed my arm and said there was no reason to run away from my feelings. I should 'embrace his presence'." Scorpius couldn't help it. He began to chuckle hysterically.

"Embrace your presence, huh?" he grinned, knowing that this was a really dumb idea while Rose was still set on murdering but not able to stop himself. "Did you feel embraced, Rose?" Luckily for him, she cracked a small smile.

"Extremely, to my disdain." She sat up and cleared her throat. "I told him I was fine and firmly blew him off. He chased my from the Three Broomsticks and I attempted to avoid him. Thus I have come here. I am never leaving our dorm again." His laughter had started to die down again, but the thought of Rose as an old, isolated recluse that camped out in the Head chamber got him grinning again. _She'd try to scare off the new kids that take residence here._

"Well," he finally coughed out. "Feeling better now? Like you don't want to kill anybody?"

"I would like it very much if one pesky Garret dropped dead and left me alone right now, but no, I'm not going to become a serial killer yet," she eventually told him with another sigh, leaning into his shoulder. "Why? I may be Head Girl, but nobody's really had an interest in me before. Can't he just go after somebody else instead?"

"Other girls aren't you, Rosie. And I'm sure plenty of people have had an interest in you before. You're very interesting in and of yourself," he commented. She scoffed, but she was grinning again, so he figured his attempts at cheering her up were somewhat successful.

"Interesting, huh? Don't you have to say that as my best friend?" Scorpius shrugged.

"Yeah, but you act like it's not true. I'm plenty interested in you." The Weasley girl shoved him.

"Oh, we both know it's not the same, but thanks for trying," she pointed out, untangling herself from his arms and getting up.

"Yeah, no problem," he responded, though he wasn't too convinced. His stomach had been doing some strange acrobatic routines around Rose lately, ones he really shouldn't be having.

"Bring me back something from dinner, okay? I'm sorry, but I'm not going out there where he can find me." With that, she hugged him briefly and bounded off to her bed, taking advantage of this time to do homework.

"Alright. Bye, Ro!" he called as he opened the door. A faint 'bye' was yelled back, and with that, he shut the door.

* * *

"I missed getting to watch quidditch games," Scorpius breathed happily. Rose gave him an odd look.

"You mean you missed these matches?" she questioned. "Who are you and what have you done with Scorpius Malfoy?" The slytherin bit back a small smile.

"Relax, Ro, it's really me. And no - I hate watching them, even if playing quidditch is bearable. I just didn't want to have any more on my plate in addition to classes and Head duties."

"So, why did you say you missed watching them?"

"Because ignoring them completely while sitting in the stands is an excuse to hang out with all of you and eat food," he replied firmly. "And I have absolutely no reason to pay attention now." She crossed her arms.

"I think Al is a decent reason. He's still playing, which is one of the major reasons why I'm here, other than to 'hang out with all of you and eat food'." The redhead flipped her hair in an almost defiant manor.

"Eh, it sounds solid to me," remarked James, reminding the two Heads that he was still there. He never thought he would say this, but Scorpius was starting to miss hearing James argue with Claire. Now they were sitting together in silence on the cold day, and the Malfoy was fairly certain that they were plotting something. "I love this sport, but there are limits."

"Oh, poppycock," Penny scolded. "He's your brother, and quidditch is always great."

"Agreed," Miranda jutted in, followed by a nodding Tammy. "Now shush and pay attention. The match is getting interesting."

"Hmmm," Scorpius hummed. "Define interesting."

"Well, I rather like watching it," Lily added optimistically, which was pretty much her role. "This is nice."

"Spending time with you all is nice. I'd rather talk and occasionally cheer." The pale haired slytherin put a hand over his heart. "Look at all the bonding we're fitting it. How touching."

"In what places?" quipped Hugo, and Tammy sighed.

"Boys," Miranda's cousin groaned. Though they had fun, Scorpius _knew_ that the girls found them annoying from time to time (or consistently, but still). He supposed that they were probably sick of this, so he changed the subject out of pity.

"So, who's your favorite player in the world series?" he asked Penny weakly, trying to sound interested. _Remember, you're doing this out of friendship. And sympathy, but mostly friendship._ Her eyes brightened with a light that could rival the sun and he began to regret his decision.

"I'm so glad you asked! You know, it's nice to see you take an interest in professional quidditch, because even though you played sometimes you didn't seem that into the sport on a dedicated level," the strawberry blonde beamed with delight. "So anyways, there are so many to choose from, and based on stats and personal level appreciation I have a lot of conflicting opinions on the players. There's this one, and I'm fairly sure he played for the Harpies and one other team, and he . . . "

Thirty minutes later, Al had finished out and slytherin had won, yet Penny (with the occasional interjection from Lily and Miranda, who were also quidditch fans) had _just_ ended her speech.

"There there," Rose told him with a devious smirk. "I would feel sympathy for you if you hadn't brought this on yourself."

"I thought you were supposed to be compassionate," Scorpius whined, somewhat haunted by his experience. Never again. "And you're my best friend; aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

"Regularly, but have you tried going against Lily? She's too nice, _and_ she's my cousin. Double whammy right there," she explained, tugging at her scarf. "Wow, it's cold."

"I was listening to Pen, not Lily."

"Lily is on Pen's side, and therefore so am I." She looked him up and down - Scorpius was certain she could observe his misery - and finally huffed into the frigid winter air. "You know, I did freeze some of that enormous chocolate cake from a few weeks ago - not that it wouldn't have froze itself just by sitting outside - but perhaps if I thawed it . . . " He shot up straight in the air, the travesties of quidditch already forgotten.

"I would _love_ to eat some cake right now, Rose," he told her with so much longing, it was almost embarrassing. She sat back down, pretending to ponder it.

"Okay, maybe you deserve some. But just remember to congratulate Albus on his amazing quidditch game," she teased, though deep down he recognized that this wasn't a suggestion.

The next ten minutes were spent trying to give Al compliments on the match he could scarcely remember thanks to Rose and Penny. Al, being his best friend, realized that he was being baited, and in a rare moment of pity, released him from obligation. Thus Scorpius reminded himself to save cake for the Potter and went back to his dorm, hoping that Ro had taken it out of the freezer already.

She hadn't, but it was all good. In the end, he got the last laugh, taking the uncharacteristically devious route and shoving her slice in her face. She chased him around their tiny kitchen for a solid minute complaining about his slytherin roots. He stuck his tongue out at her, displaying his vast maturity.

What else was there to be said? This was just what they did.

* * *

Winter break was once again spent at the Burrow with the rest of the Weasley clan, though now Penny's small family and Miranda's extended relatives were invited over as well. The food was fantastic, the decorations were homey, and the best part was that almost everyone was there throughout Christmas.

Well, no, the best part was actually convincing Rose to not hide in the upstairs corridor and to sing carols with everyone else. With much pleading, he managed to get her to perform one song with the rest of the group, and she did absolutely fine, much to Al's disbelief. As soon as it was over, she disappeared upstairs, and in seconds he was following her, mainly so she wouldn't be a complete recluse. Albus and Penny, later accompanied by the rest of the gang, made their way up after a while, and they all spent the night in the observatory, watching the snow and the stars while playing muggle board games.

This time, he made a concerted effort to spend more time with his parents, though he had the feeling that they weren't exactly hurt about his absence beforehand. They had made a lot of friends with the Weasleys, actually, and grown-up friends were something that were relatively hard to find.

On the way back home, he resolved to never have another quiet, seclusive holiday again. Though they weren't exactly bad, the two he experienced were light-years better.

* * *

When Garret nearly ambushed Rose on the way out of the dorm to her potions course after break, Scorpius realized that this was more than cockiness and wanting Rose as some sort of prize. This was a chance to be the part of a 'golden couple', and besides that, with the way that said redhead had been avoiding him, Garret's pride was hurt.

Though his first instinct was to kill Garret (Rose really was a bad influence, if not good company), he opted for a less violent approach. At first, he simply glared at the ravenclaw whenever he tried going up to talk to the Weasley teen. However, Garret was too bold and confident to stand down, so Scorpius tried to change directions, carting a befuddled Rose with him, whenever the boy showed up. Sadly, not getting the 'leave us alone or else we'll decapitate you' message, he simply ran after them, which lead to chase scenes equivalent to the ones in Rose's terrible action movies.

At long last, he realized just ignoring and avoiding Garret was impossible, so Scorpius resolved to stay at Rose's side every time she was alone, because _like hell_ was he going to leave her to deal with a pushy git like that by herself. Thus with a new objective in mind, he created a playbook of contingency excuses and walked her to every class. Once she realized what he was doing, Rose herself was eternally grateful for the assistance, though she made a point to tell him it wasn't necessary if it was an inconvenience.

"The only inconvenience is him," Scorpius had answered, and that was that. He was her unofficial bodyguard against the forces of annoyance.

The sad part was, it was working.

Every time Garret came over, Scorpius was at Rose's side, and would then exclaim something loudly, such as, "Oh no! Don't we have to meet up with that professor right now?" Rose would feign shock and respond.

"Oh, right! I can't believe I forgot. That retake is incredibly important, too. We better hurry up and go right now."

"Don't want to be late," he'd add, and with a confused expression, Garret would slip back into the masses as they rounded several corners just to be safe.

This system was completely arbitrary and dumb, but it worked, and that's all that really mattered in the end. Thus Rose was able to move around the castle freely for the year without the impending threat of come-on related doom.

* * *

They all went back to the Three Broomsticks again only a few months before the end of school. Going there was practically a tradition now, and a tradition they didn't have any problems preserving.

For once, James and Claire were bantering again, though not with any real annoyance or anger behind it. It was something along the lines of 'who should get the next butter beer', so Scorpius simply smiled and moved on. Al aimlessly talked with Penny, Hugo and Faye laughed at one of An's jokes, and Lily and Tam observed the chaos around them with a mild interest. Scorpius himself was more than happy to chat with Rose, exchanging puns and smiles and food as the night wore on (they did talk to other people, too, just not nearly as often). Round after round of trays were delivered, and Scorpius insisted strongly on paying the bill, though Lily snatched it up and paid for it herself when no one was looking.

This was the stuff he lived for in his Hogwarts career. Not the social events, not acing the finals, not playing quidditch. He really loved the moments like these.

How many more of them would there be, though?

* * *

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm . . . " Tammy was blurting out, and due to the incoming migraine, Scorpius was forced to stop her.

"About what? Weren't you and Rose just supposed to be going out on a girl's night?" the slytherin told her gruffly, hands massaging the bridge of his nose. He hadn't really known what to do with himself without Rose there in the dorm, and without their usual rhythm to fill the space, he decided to wait out the storm by taking a nap.

"Yes, well, later we stopped by a tavern to get drinks - no, not alcohol, you know Rose - and we just ordered some sodas before we went back. But Rose went to the bathroom and I turned away for a second and someone must have spiked it, because Ro got all loopy and - " Scorpius stopped her yet again. He would have been mad about this development had Tam not been his friend and looked incredibly guilty, but that didn't matter. He'd heard everything he needed to know.

"Alright, just . . . here, I'll help you with her." Rose was a bit of a dead-weight and didn't handle her spiked beverages well, since she had essentially passed out beside the door. He hefted her up and walked into the dorm, Tam watching over his shoulder as he put her on her bed. "She'll be fine, Tam."

"Really?"

"Really. And it's not your fault, so don't blame yourself," he sighed, looking at Rose with concern. Of course this would happen only weeks before school ended. Of course.

"Still, I'm really sorry," she told him desperately, searching his eyes for blame. He couldn't exactly fault her; he had carted several friends home before then. "Tell her that when she comes to."

"I will." Just like that, Tam fled the room, though Scorpius knew she'd feel better in the morning when Rose would undoubtedly declare she was alright and wasn't to be babied. His lips quirked up. Yeah, that was Rose at her finest.

It actually took another three hours for the redhead to wake up, jolting nearly out of bed, but all Scorpius felt was relief when she scolded him for waiting with her. She really was going to be fine.

* * *

"I can't believe we're almost out of school!" Lily gasped, looking forlornly at the date. "I mean, it's all gone by so fast, hasn't it? The last three year have just . . . poof." She slumped onto the table in exasperation, and Scorpius had to agree. If he had thought sixth year was short, he had been sorely mistaken.

"It's a shame we don't get more time to experience being in school," James agreed, only to frown seconds later. "Those words didn't come out of my mouth, right?"

"I'm afraid they did, my brother," Albus groaned from across the table. "And I couldn't have said it better myself. When did Hogwarts decide it was done with us?"

"When we grew out of it," Rose wisely concluded. "We're all becoming adults; we're not going to need schooling anymore. We're all going out into the real world next year." She frowned at that statement. "I'm going to have to pay for lodging and electricity and HOA and bills and taxes and I'll have to work and - "

"It's alright, Rosie," Miranda said gently, "and we all get it. But don't become paranoid yet." Miranda sucked in a breath of air and tried not to look dejected. "Yet."

"And you all called me crazy for acting forlorn about this at the end of fifth year," Scorpius scolded. "I told you it would go by quickly. Only two more years left. And Al said that was dumb."

"I didn't say those words exactly," Albus muttered, crossing his arms.

"Close enough, though. It feels weird knowing that we're never going to come back."

"Speak for yourself," Hugo said, being the only member of the gang still grinning. "I still get another two years out of Hogwarts. Faye and I are sticking around for a while."

"Faye isn't even here," Tammy pointed out in a rather obvious fashion. Turning back to the rest of their group, she got up out of her seat at the table and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, come on. Get out of your comas, guys. We weren't going to be students forever." Turning to Rose and Scorpius, she added, "Thanks for inviting all of us over to your dorm, by the way. We don't often get to see it." This was true enough; their friends rarely all gathered in the shared Head area longer than a couple minutes, and inviting everyone over while they still had it was an obligation to Rose. She had wanted to for a while and by merlin, she was going to get them all over to their place for at least one time.

"Yes, well, I have some movies and some food," Rose responded, getting up as well now that she had something to do. "Let's not focus on the depressing fact that we're going to be leaving soon." As Scorpius set out the tiny DVD player (then he enchanted it to make it big enough for everyone to watch on), she grabbed take out boxes on the counter. "It's from the Three Broomsticks," she added, and everybody groaned.

"Now I'm sad again," scowled Claire. "We have too much history there. I can't believe the - " James covered her mouth.

"I will get upset if you continue. Mortality has already set in," he warned, and with a wince she stopped. Though they all looked a little bent out of sorts, they crowded around the player screen, and after an hour of watching everybody was in good spirits again. If there was a way to spend their last few days, this was it.

* * *

Though the train ride was typically filled with conversation over conversation, the hustle and bustle of the car, and corny jokes, the last minute until they arrived back home was a somber affair. Everyone wasn't quite sure what to say, and what else was there _to_ say? This was their last trip from Hogwarts.

As the doors opened up, all they were really able to do was distribute hugs and goodbyes amongst the baggage and trolley food, to wave at their friends and make promises to not grow apart. They all dallied away at menial things as an excuse to stay inside their compartment a little longer - especially the girls, and especially Lily, with her soft heart and emotional soul - until finally there were no more excuses to be had, so they left and tried to remember the good times they had together. It wasn't like this was the end of all things. They would live.

Hopefully.

Claire and James made the step off the platform first, holding their hands together tightly. She kissed him, full on the lips, before walking over to find her family. James, though momentarily stunned, smiled softly and strolled over to his parents. Lily followed suit, dashing off the steps and flinging herself into her mother's arms with a hug. Tam and Miranda, linking arms, waved at the Potters and soon were lost to the crowd. Albus paused before walking off the steps, grabbing Penny's hand.

"I know we've gone out a few times, and you said you liked me too, but can we keep going out? Because you're incredible and I'd really like it if you were my girl - " Penny shut him up by tugging on his collar and kissing him. Much like with James, it was very effective in shutting him up.

"I'd like that," she replied simply before waltzing off to her folks. Albus got off the train with the biggest and most lovestriken grin Scorpius had ever seen, his eyes glazed over as he stumbled over to the Potter family.

Only Hugo, Faye, Rose, and Scorpius remained, and as if realizing this fact, Faye kissed Hugo's cheek - there seemed to be a lot of kissing going on - and bounded away before he could respond.

Hugo, glowing a bright scarlet red, turned to Rose and told her, "Not another word. I mean it, Rose." With that, he was off, grappling into the arms of Mrs. Granger with a flaming face.

"Together?" she asked, and he loved that he knew her well enough to instinctively know what she was talking about.

"Of course." And just like that, she screwed her eyes shut and stepped onto the platform, only opening them once he nudged her. He felt oddly light, like he had left something behind that he had been carrying around for a while, and he didn't know if he liked said lightness or not. But either way, that unspeakable thing was gone, and it would take some getting used to. "You better stay in touch, Rosie. I can't imagine not talking to you or Al anymore. It would be like not having air."

"Oh, stop being so dramatic," she scoffed jokingly. "You don't need us."

"Yes I do. Best friends, remember?" He meant it as a quip but it came out as a reminder. She turned around and hugged him tightly.

No, she didn't cry. Rose would kick him if he admitted that she cried.

But she may have teared up just a little.

"Best friends, Scorpius," she said finally, kissing his cheek (and almost everyone else got kissed, so really, he deserved his) and going to rejoin her parents and sibling. "Bye! See you soon!"

"I'll miss you guys! See you soon, Rosie!" he called over the rush of people, though he wasn't sure if she could hear him or not. It didn't matter, though. It wasn't anything she didn't already know.

* * *

His cheek still burned as his family arrived back at the manor, the familiar obsidian and marble and silver rushing to meet them. Between the many inquiries about school and girls and quidditch, his mother leaned over and asked, "You seem a little different, darling. Are you alright? Anything eating you?" To that, he finally smiled.

"Nope. Nothing at all." Hogwarts was over, but all of them? Never.

* * *

 **Thank god this has all been finished. I am so sick of writing years at school I am half tempted to pull my hair out.**

 **Sorry if it got a little choppy near the end; I just wanted to be done with writing Hogwarts stuff that I attempted to make shorter scenes that were more numerous. If anybody thought they were bad, I apologize now. It wasn't my finest work.**

 **On the same token, thanks for sticking around! I hope everybody liked the first and second installment of this five part series. This chapter and the next one are going to be the longest so far (this one has a lot of time to cover and the next one has a lot of progression). It was a little harder to write for Scorpius since I'm a girl and Rose was a little more sarcastic, but I think I did alright. Don't worry, next chapter will be a little smoother, though it may take a while to come out (another month or two at most, though if I work fast, it might be out quicker than projected, much like this one) and I do have other stories that need love. I apologize in advance, anyhow.**

 **Anyways, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review this story. Like I've mentioned in many a fic, I thrive off of validation and it encourages me to update faster, so please please please do that.**

 **Lastly, if you are at all curious about the Yule Ball outfits for the girls, I have a Polyvore account and I (kinda poorly) put together some pieces that I thought represented the looks to provide everyone with a visual.**

 **Lily:** icy_blue/set?id=223709038

 **Miranda:** navy_blue/set?id=223707294

 **Tam:** red_roses/set?id=223707703

 **Penny:** rose_gold_gown/set?id=223710655

 **Rose:** exotic/set?id=223709867

 **Claire:** touch_turquoise/set?id=223708799

 **Faye:** vanilla_wings/set?id=223709469

 **Now that everything is over, bye guys! See you in my next chapter!**


	3. Sorry, Not a Chapter, Just an Update

**Hey, sorry to tease you with a notification and not an actual chapter, but I figured you'd been waiting for forever and a day anyhow and I might as well give you something. I've been extremely busy with school and volunteering and other stories and life in general, but I just wanted everyone to know that I still care about this story and haven't forgotten it. Soon (hopefully within the next week or so) I'll be replacing this notification with the real chapter. It's only about halfway done is the problem and I've had barely any time to work on it, but around 20k has been typed up.**

 **Just to give you something to read while you wait, and as an apology present, here's a sneak peak/spoiler for the next chapter . . .**

* * *

"Why does everything look so expensive?" Rose grumbled on the couch. She was supposed to be enjoying family bonding time with her relatives when Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry came over, but she had opted for searching a realtor's website instead, hoping to find any residences for sale.

Like with most things, she knew exactly what she wanted, but in magical communities, prices became higher for wizards and witches like herself, and first time buyer options were excruciating. But being a perfectionist, she refused to drop even one item on her list, so she was stuck weeding through the high price points.

"All I want is a decent house in a decent place with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a nice sized kitchen. A porch and laundry room wouldn't be amiss. What is so complex about that request?" she scowled again, leafing through the next listings. "I mean, it shouldn't be this hard, right Uncle Harry?" See, the fact that her uncle was in the room, reading next to her on the couch, allowed her to pass this off as some sort of bonding initiative, so she was free of obligations in that regard. Luckily, her uncle was a kind, understanding man who continued to put up with her many throws of anger and annoyance during the house-hunting process.

"Broaden the criteria, Rosie," he told her, looking up from his book. "You won't find the perfect house on your first try. Ginny and I moved three times before settling where we live now." She sighed dramatically and did just that.

"Fine, I said there can be any number of bathrooms now. Do you think that's enough of a difference to help?" Her uncle shrugged, and she began to go through the new listings with a groan of agony. This was sure to take ages.

Nearly half an hour later, she stopped, because _oh my gosh thank merlin bloody hell time to panic this house was perfect in every conceivable way._

"Uncle Harry, Uncle Harry! Look at this one!" she squealed with excitement, practically shoving the computer into his lap. "Just look at it!" With a slightly puzzled expression, the famous Harry Potter began to scroll through the information on the listing.

"Three bedrooms, three full bathrooms, big kitchen, it has a porch and a backyard based on the first few pictures . . . yes, it does sound like everything you wanted, doesn't it?" he said, partially surprised that a house like this even existed. "It would be a good fit for you, based on your requirements. How much does it cost?" Rose took back the computer with a wide grin and pulled up the initial tab for prices. Then said grin fell.

"It costs $100,000 above my budget, apparently," she mumbled with a frown, crossing her legs and preparing to delete the tab. "So, in other words, way too much to afford." Uncle Harry set his novel down on the end table and silently furrowed his brow. Finally, he tapped Rose's shoulder and smiled.

"Rose, you realize we're rich, right?" he told her. She cocked her head in confusion. "Oh come on, I'm an auror, and already that's got an incredibly good salary, and my inheritance from my parents as it is would be enough for my grandchildren to all live lavish, comfortable lives without ever having to work. I could easily make up the difference; it wouldn't even put a dent in my bank account, and even if it did, I could earn it all back in a year or two, even without Ginny's salary. I'm in an incredibly good position to assist you." Rose's jaw became unhinged.

"You would help pay back that entire $100,000?" she asked slowly. Harry nodded at the redhead.

"It would be my pleasure, I'm sure. And even if I myself didn't want to, your parents aren't exactly poor either. Your mom is practically in line to be the next minister at this point, and Ron's job isn't exactly non profit," he pointed out, spreading his hands. "Heck, if I wanted to, I could probably buy the whole house without blinking. And I'd be willing to, if you get strapped for cash." _This has got to be a miracle. Either that or a really amazing dream._

"I would love it if you could pay the extra amount for me, though I can totally pay you back over time. I'm not just going to ask you to do that for me because you're my relative," she told him quickly, already grinning again. She was getting the house. No more days would be wasted on a couch, wondering when she could finally find a place to move out. "It's no problem at all."

"You don't have to do that. I want to help out."

"You don't have to do anything in the first place. If you don't accept back the money in full, I'm still going to give you back half of it. I'm not going to rob you blind," she insisted.

"It's not robbing if I give you the change freely," Harry reminded her.

"Oh, yes it is. You're just too generous. So, will you pay for the extra expenses provided I give you back a payment of $50,000 later on?" she pressed, holding out her hand. With a fond roll of his eyes, Uncle Harry shook it gently and returned to his book. "Did I ever mention you're my favorite uncle?"

"Several times, I'm sure."

"Right. I'll still have to do it more often, though."

"Yes, Rosie." A page was flipped in his novel, and just like that, Rose Weasley had bought a house.

* * *

 **Yup, Rose is getting a house. Surprise, I guess? I don't know - I read some Grae Liars (hope I spelled that right) fics a while ago and really fell in love with the concept of Rose getting her own place, and I kinda wanted to incorporate it into this story as well. No, I'm not going to copy her fanfiction or anything - what I've been writing is nothing like her plot - but I adopted that detail and made it my own.**

 **I hope everybody's still looking forward to the next update and that this convinced you to hang in there. Thanks for being so patient!**


	4. Dating

**So here I am (once again, feeling lost, but now and - actually, I'll just stop myself there) with chapter 3, which is dubbed Dating. You can probably guess why. This will include a lot of character progression, but Rose is back as the main character (yay) which should make it a little easier to write for. I dunno if everything is as sassy as usual, but I figured I had to make them more mature somehow. I'm not entirely sure that I succeeded.**

 **I think I've done okay with her overall, but maybe that's just me. I don't know who you all prefer as a speaker, but next chapter (probably the shortest in this series) will be on Scorpius' turn.**

 **Thanks to everybody for being so incredibly patient with me. I'm incredibly late and a complete wreck and I'm so sorry to make everyone wait.**

 **Really. I'm sorry.**

 **Not posting anything relevant to this plot for so long made me feel guilty, so I'm crossing my fingers that this wait will have been worth it for you guys.**

 **Here I go. I hope this turns out okay.**

* * *

Rose really had no idea how it happened. One second they were best friends, and then the next they were going out and kissing and doing a whole manner of couple-y stuff. Really, the change took her by surprise. Maybe she had been brainwashed.

If so, she didn't think she minded.

Perhaps it was always there, this instinctive _like_ of Scorpius Malfoy. Perhaps she had just never realized how much she needed him until she had him all to herself. That sounds rather selfish, actually, but she figures that he has to enjoy being her captive, otherwise he would have said so.

And this was how they made the transition from friends to something more.

* * *

"Why does everything look so expensive?" Rose grumbled on the couch. She was supposed to be enjoying family bonding time with her relatives when Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry came over, but she had opted for searching a realtor's website instead, hoping to find any residences for sale.

Like with most things, she knew exactly what she wanted, but in magical communities, prices became higher for wizards and witches like herself, and first time buyer options were excruciating. But being a perfectionist, she refused to drop even one item on her list, so she was stuck weeding through the high price points.

"All I want is a decent house in a decent place with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a nice sized kitchen. A porch and laundry room wouldn't be amiss. What is so complex about that request?" she scowled again, leafing through the next listings. "I mean, it shouldn't be this hard, right Uncle Harry?" See, the fact that her uncle was in the room, reading next to her on the couch, allowed her to pass this off as some sort of bonding initiative, so she was free of obligations in that regard. Luckily, her uncle was a kind, understanding man who continued to put up with her many throws of anger and annoyance during the house-hunting process.

"Broaden the criteria, Rosie," he told her, looking up from his book. "You won't find the perfect house on your first try. Ginny and I moved three times before settling where we live now." She sighed dramatically and did just that.

"Fine, I said there can be any number of bathrooms now and slightly upped the price. Do you think that's enough of a difference to help?" Her uncle shrugged, and she began to go through the new listings with a groan of agony. This was sure to take ages.

Nearly half an hour later, she stopped, because _oh my gosh thank merlin bloody hell time to panic this house was perfect in every conceivable way._

"Uncle Harry, Uncle Harry! Look at this one!" she squealed with excitement, practically shoving the computer into his lap. "Just look at it!" With a slightly puzzled expression, the famous Harry Potter began to scroll through the information on the listing.

"Three bedrooms, three full bathrooms, big kitchen, it has a porch and a backyard based on the first few pictures . . . yes, it does sound like everything you wanted, doesn't it?" he said, partially surprised that a house like this even existed. "It would be a good fit for you, based on your requirements. How much does it cost?" Rose took back the computer with a wide grin and pulled up the initial tab for prices. Then said grin fell.

"It costs $100,000 above my budget, apparently," she mumbled with a frown, crossing her legs and preparing to delete the tab. "So, in other words, way too much to afford." Uncle Harry set his novel down on the end table and silently furrowed his brow. Finally, he tapped Rose's shoulder and smiled.

"Rose, you realize we're rich, right?" he told her. She cocked her head in confusion. "Oh come on, I'm an auror, and already that's got an incredibly good salary, and my inheritance from my parents as it is would be enough for my grandchildren to all live lavish, comfortable lives without ever having to work. I could easily make up the difference; it wouldn't even put a dent in my bank account, and even if it did, I could earn it all back in a year or two, even without Ginny's salary. I'm in an incredibly good position to assist you." Rose's jaw became unhinged.

"You would help pay back that entire $100,000?" she asked slowly. Harry nodded at the redhead.

"It would be my pleasure, I'm sure. And even if I myself didn't want to, your parents aren't exactly poor either. Your mom is practically in line to be the next minister at this point, and Ron's job isn't exactly non profit," he pointed out, spreading his hands. "Heck, if I wanted to, I could probably buy the whole house without blinking. And I'd be willing to, if you get strapped for cash." _This has got to be a miracle. Either that or a really amazing dream._

"I would love it if you could pay the extra amount for me, though I can totally pay you back over time. I'm not just going to ask you to do that for me because you're my relative," she told him quickly, already grinning again. She was getting the house. No more days would be wasted on a couch, wondering when she could finally find a place to move out. "It's no problem at all."

"You don't have to do that. I want to help out."

"You don't have to do anything in the first place. If you don't accept back the money in full, I'm still going to give you back half of it. I'm not going to rob you blind," she insisted.

"It's not robbing if I give you the change freely," Harry reminded her.

"Oh, yes it is. You're just too generous. So, will you pay for the extra expenses provided I give you back a payment of $50,000 later on?" she pressed, holding out her hand. With a fond roll of his eyes, Uncle Harry shook it gently and returned to his book. "Did I ever mention you're my favorite uncle?"

"Several times, I'm sure."

"Right. I'll still have to do it more often, though."

"Yes, Rosie." A page was flipped in his novel, and just like that, Rose Weasley had bought a house.

* * *

When she told the rest of her cousins about her new place, they were just as excited as she was about the prospect of a house. Rose had saved up money for years in preparation and had the down payment all taken care of, but for them, it wasn't feasible. So, houses were cool, and they were happy for her. They just couldn't realistically make that sort of investment.

"Proud of you, Ro," Albus declared, and the others nodded. And thus was the entirety of their reactions summed up in a nutshell.

But, this didn't mean there was no reason to celebrate. One member of their closely woven group of Hogwarts graduates (and Hugo and Faye, she supposed - they popped up in their stories quite often, somehow) was a homeowner.

Rose wasn't dumb. She knew this was just an excuse to get everyone back together and have a party. The problem in that statement was that she missed everybody else, too. As a result, she continued to play along under the assumption that the world was enthused about her new home.

Since they wanted privacy (and without adult guests to mingle with, her mother and father would definitely watch over them from behind the door, thinking that she had the adorable notion that she was all grown up), the Burrow wasn't exactly a place to throw a party. Neither was the Potter residence, since Al and his siblings were rubbish at cleaning spells and she didn't want to tediously help clean everything they inevitably dirtied by hand. That essentially left the Malfoy Manor (nope, Draco would faint if he knew how many teenagers were coming into his house, even if Scorpius managed to agree), Rose's homestead (and no, she didn't want her friends inside her parent's house, because although she loved them she didn't trust them, and Mum would _definitely_ make her scrub everything by hand as a lesson about accountability; also, her parents were there, and that was one of the problems with the Burrow), and wherever Penny, Claire, Tam, or Miranda lived, nobody knew, so nobody would be able to find it. This was a conundrum.

Then Albus reminded her that she had her own house now, and the problem was solved. She may not trust her friends at a full scale party, but whatever broke could be fixed with magic, and she hadn't really moved in yet - she was still in the process of packing up her stuff - so there wasn't too much actually in the house to be worried about.

With one incident under wraps, she picked out a nice pair of pants and a blouse she could pass off as fancy, because she didn't really own that many fancy clothing articles. Who needs fancy when you have comfortable hoodies and shorts to lounge around in? She would rather be comfortable.

Of course, until she gets frantic an hour before a party and feels the need to go _shopping_ \- a need Rose had never been overwhelmed with before. _I need to get something fashionable so this doesn't happen. Something that I won't immediately ruin, loose, or hate that I can actually wear. So, in other words, I need to find a way to raid Lily's closet without her knowledge. She seems to know what she's doing with her wardrobe._

 _Wait, can any of her clothing even fit me?_

 _. . . Nevermind._

So, again, last minute, she pulls on the nearest clean top and the neatest jeans and hauls them on, which explains her wardrobe. Again, she could pass it off as fancy, but she figured that for this, she was in the clear. Next time she might not be so lucky.

But, of course, this leaves the last crucial detail of the party untouched, and that detail was making sure the boys (the girls didn't worry her, but the boys - mainly Al - made her nervous, especially when the kitchen was involved) didn't destroy the house itself. If James brought champagne, then . . . well, she's seen Miranda drunk, or at least loopy. It's not a good omen of things to come.

Luckily, after practically warding off the majority of her flooring, walls, and furniture, she's pretty confident that nothing will ruin them for the next night. So, with everything settled, the housewarming party can begin.

Albus arrives first, with Lily and James at his side. Lily brought this upside-down-fruit-bake-bite-whatever-thing, but in the end, she presented Rose with what was essentially cake, and that was all that mattered. James eagerly asked if Claire and the others were there, and after telling him that he wasn't fooling anybody, she shook her head no. James instantly took up vigil by the door (and he still refuses to admit that he was like a puppy waiting for his master to come home, but Rose swears up and down that he was doing a spot on impersonation of one). Al, Lily, and Rose actually get a good conversation going for a few minutes when the doorbell to her little house rings again, so she races to to door with James. This time, it's Miranda and Tam, and just as they come in, Penny apparates to the front door seconds later. To no one's surprise, now that his girlfriend is here, Albus is disinterested in talking to anybody again.

It's funny how that works.

Then Scorpius in all of his pale-haired glory arrives, and she crushes him into a hug. This is the one arrival to actually make Al take his eyes off of Pen, so she considered it nothing short of a miracle. She dragged him into the kitchen and strands him with the rest of the girls for a moment, briefly hugging the rest of her female friends before sprinting back to watch the door.

Hugo and Faye materialize on her doorstep together, and Rose relentlessly teases him about it. When Faye joins in, causing Hugo to frown at both of them, Rose mentally approves of the younger girl. She would make a good sister-in-law.

Claire obviously comes in last, to James' endless chagrin. He pouts about how she made him wait for an eternity, but she kisses him in full view of everyone once they're inside, and it shuts him up instantly.

After that, Rose was more than happy just to mingle. The redhead caught up with An for a while, who said she was trying to get a job as an intern at a big quidditch stadium. Tammy jumped in after that, talking about her part time occupation at, surprisingly, the Three Broomsticks. She was a barista, but it paid relatively well and in a year or two she would have enough money for a down payment and could open up her own restaurant. Penny, breaking away from Albus momentarily, was very passionate about becoming a sports trainer. Rose had the sneaking suspicion that this would mainly include quidditch and racing, but she kept it to herself with a smile.

It seemed like all of her closest friends had lives and jobs lined up, if not a permanent residence, and she felt the slightest bit behind. Luckily, Scorpius, Al, and Lily had no idea what they wanted to do either. At least they all had time, she supposed.

"So," the slytherin stated halfway through, taking a careful sip of champagne. Nobody had drunken enough to become loopy yet, thank merlin, but she hoped that trend would remain throughout the night. The others, enamored with her giant muggle flatscreen TV as opposed to the tiny player or the Weasley one, had begun watching the movie Inception, and seeing as she loved it and had watched it a million times anyhow, she allowed them to start it up without being seated. Now she was missing some key information, but it was cool, because Scorpius had gotten up with her. "The house is nice." She grinned.

"Yeah, it is. I think it's a good place to start out, and I don't see myself leaving any time soon. At least ten years are going by in this home," she informed him eagerly, patting the wall gently. "I can stay for a while and still have the right amount of room, so yeah." His eyes flew wide.

"Ten years? Most first time buyers don't even stay for five, Ro. Don't you think that that's a bit of a commitment?" he pondered. The previous gryffindor merely shrugged.

"I guess. But I know what I want and I got what I wanted. I'm pretty happy with this investment."

"Well, you were always the perfectionist," he considered after a moment, sipping from his pristine glass cup (a set of wine glasses was one of the first things she bought after having purchased the house; using them made her feel ridiculously grown up). "A bit of an overachiever, to be honest."

"Oh, I wasn't an overachiever." She batted his arm with a laugh, because really, the mere suggestion was silly. "I was a perfectly average achiever."

"Really?" One of his eyebrows ascended up his forehead.

"Yes, indubitably. Now stop with that expression - it makes you look like your brow is about to escape your face," she chastised. He did stop, but he began to shake his head at her the second he quit.

"Maybe, Rosie, but most people would just say 'of course' or 'naturally' or 'exactly' or something. You're the one girl who ends up saying 'indubitably'."

"I have an extensive vocabulary for an individual my age," she defended, crossing her arms. Scorpius smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Therein lies the point, Ro, but back to your house. I wish I had a place like this." The tone was almost wistful, like he was envisioning it even now, and she felt the need to look back at him.

"You do?"

"Oh yeah. Nice neighborhood, great size, decent distance from most anything, and it has a kitchen and a laundry room. That's a lucky find," he commented, grabbing one of Lily's oddly named cake bites off the counter. "And like you said, even though it's a pretty big commitment, you'll be able to stay here for years on end and not outgrow it. That's great." As he munched on the _thing_ , Rose pondered this statement. An idea was beginning to form in her head.

"So you've been looking to move out of your parent's house?"

"Of course. I don't want to be a twenty year old, still in my mom and dad's house, getting my mail and paychecks sent to the family manor. It's just weird, and frankly a little creepy, even if the place is huge."

"And you like this house?"

"Obviously. It's a nice place, actually."

"And the location is spot on?"

"Walking distance is everything, Rose. I'm fresh out of Hogwarts, and purchasing transportation or apparating everywhere is a bit of a bother."

"I have two extra rooms, and a house to pay off, and you're not exactly poor. You have the money, you want to move out, and this checks off everything on your list; why not just move in with me?" she asked. Scorpius, to his credit, tried not to spit out Lily's snacks.

"Wait just a bloody minute," he choked out, swallowing the bite awkwardly, "you think I should move in with you? Into your new place?" Rose . . . couldn't find a flaw in her plan. She thought it over in her head and just didn't see a reason to retract her offer, and so it stood.

"Yes, I believe I am," she affirmed, sitting down on one of the few chairs she had transported over. "What do you think?" Her companion was scarily silent, and she was _certain_ that this revelation was causing his mind to implode. But then he grinned like he had just been handed a billion dollars and practically tackled her into a hug.

"You have no idea what you've just done for me, Rose," he mumbled, though his face was pretty much buried in her hair. "You are a godsend, Weasley, and I am the luckiest man alive." She loosely patted his back, seeing as she could barely move her arms.

"It's not that big a deal, really. I'm just happy to help, and it's a mutually beneficial scenario," Rose explained. "I'm not some sort of hero, you know." He pulled back and gripped her shoulders dramatically.

"You are saving me from a lifetime of living down the hall from my parents. That _makes_ you a hero," Scorpius answered earnestly. "So thank you for choosing to suffer through the horrors of being my roommate again." This time, the redhead had to shove him off of her with a grin.

"Yes, well, all in a day's work, I'm sure. Now go spread your happiness to Al and leave me to stuff my face in peace." With said request in mind, he journeyed back to the couch and began excitedly telling the Potter all about their new arrangements. Being as he wasn't exactly subtle, everyone else heard the (rather loud) explanation. Albus smirked knowingly as Scorpius rambled, but Lily and Miranda smiled brightly as he continued, often looking back at Rose with the terrifying grin that frequented her years in Hogwarts. Why they did this to her, she may never know.

"Aw, now I missed half the movie!" James protested on the couch.

"It was just one scene, James," Claire sighed. Briefly, Rose wondered why the dirty blonde put up with him.

"Yes, but in this movie, _everything_ is important. You have to pay close attention to the plot," he maintained. With a groan, Tammy snatched back the remote and rewound the DVD.

"Happy now?" the slytherin girl said with a roll of her eyes.

"Very."

"Of course you are."

Either way, Rose could count her problematic party as a success, especially now that she had a new roommate because of it.

* * *

"Wait, which boxes are mine?" Rose frowned, gazing at the many identical cardboard boxes adorning the living room. All over the ground they had levitated their belongings in, setting them inside, without really marking them or leaving them in their respective places or anything. It had been about to rain, and Scorpius didn't know any spells for keeping out the weather, so they simply transported everything in quickly without considering the consequences.

In short, there were around 40 boxes of just pure _randomness_ (seriously, she didn't know she owned so many things until she started moving them) sitting unopened in the middle of her house, and there was nothing to tell any of them apart.

"I don't know either, Ro," Scorpius sighed helplessly at her side. "Should we just start unpacking, or . . ."

"No, I don't want to get out anything but the essentials, like cooking supplies," she affirmed. He stared at her in borderline disbelief.

"Cooking supplies, Rose? How is that an essential right now?"

"We need to be able to eat."

"Right, and we can order food from some muggle food or go out to eat if we get hungry. What we need is stuff like bed sheets, and we won't know where they are until we unpack all the boxes," he pointed out. Rose frowned, because loosing arguments with anybody was a point of pride for her, but loosing at logic against one of her best friends was unacceptable. She supposed she was just stubborn like that.

"Fine," she sighed, starting to sift through one of the cardboard containers. "You owe me a milkshake, though."

"Why?"

"Because you won in an argument. Therefore, to make me feel better, you're buying me a milkshake," she explained, pulling out a bunch of candles. Scorpius shrugged, and she assumed it had to be hers. Her best friend didn't exactly strike her as the type of person who would prance around with boxes of scented candles, anyways. "Wait, where did I even get these?" she muttered to herself. 'Wandering Woodland Grove' was not a scent she ever imagined she might possess, much less have long enough to end up taking to a new house.

Seriously, where did all of these things come from?

"Let's just sit on the couch you brought in for the party and watch a movie, alright? We can unpack everything in the morning," he said, already dragging her away from the boxes. "We'll figure it out later."

"If we're not making our own food - "

"Ro, the fridge is empty. Were we going to apparate to a store?"

" - then we're getting chinese. I'll call the take out place, alright?" she affirmed. Her friend looked back at her in confusion.

"Call?"

"Right, no phone. Sorry," she clucked, already scrolling through her contacts for the number. Then Rose frowned, realizing that she actually had a muggle chinese restaurant's information keyed into her phone. This was a new level of sad.

She didn't even eat there enough to justify this.

Right?

It didn't matter, because in seconds, the number was located and their orders were placed, and she deemed having a contact for chinese take out a good idea.

"Now, you need to get a coat on and pick up our stuff. I'm going to set up the movie while you're gone," Rose concluded assertively. Her tone left no space for argument, though Scorpius was brave enough to try.

"Wait, how is it fair that I have to leave and get the food while you get free reign of the TV?" he asked, brow furrowed. She laughed.

"Who said this was fair?"

"Touche," he ceded, though he looked like he wanted to argue.

"Exactly. While you're out, get my milkshake!" she called, watching as he grudgingly slipped on his jacket.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"I hate you," he deadpanned, though a small smile was overtaking the corners of his lips. "I think I would prefer unpacking boxes on the floor."

"Too late now."

"Yup. Sadly." And just like that, the slytherin dissapeared. When he finally came back, he was hefting three styrofoam containers, a milkshake, and a tub of ice cream. The smug git took a detour to another shop and bought himself dessert as revenge. He started eating the giant tub in front of her, and with narrowed eyes, she took The Matrix out of the player and replaced it with The Notebook, just for posterity.

He groaned loudly once he realized it was some sappy romantic film, at which point she chuckled into her milkshake rather unattractively.

So what if she's being completely unproductive? It'll be fine. They'll unpack everything the next day.

* * *

Predictably, they only get through a few cardboard containers the following morning because Albus stops by to see them unexpectedly, and the whole day ends up wasted on nothing at all.

The day after is just as bad, because it's monday, and mondays are exasperating. Mondays are designated lazy days, and as if the universe was agreeing, it was cold and miserable outside. Needless to say, nothing was accomplished.

Finally, on tuesday, everything was put in its proper space, and despite the amount of boxes previously littering the floor, Rose was surprised to find that the house still felt slightly empty. They needed to get more furniture.

Suddenly, she was incredibly grateful to Scorpius for taking one of the bedrooms. She would have felt completely alone in her home without him.

* * *

After a month of living in close quarters with someone, you tend to grow closer. Though Rose and Scorpius had already lived together in a Hogwarts private dorm for a year, the novelty of sharing something as personal as a house still hadn't worn off, and they proceeded to follow a pattern.

Rose would get up slightly earlier than him and made coffee, brewing it with some fancy Coffee Maker 2000 model that her mother had sent them as a housewarming present. Then he would roll out of bed, take the mug, and start drinking it with only one pack of sugar, which Rose found disgraceful. Everybody knew that coffee was best with creamer.

After this, he would help her magic up breakfast, which differed based on their moods and supplies in the fridge. Since there usually was nothing that immediately needed doing, they would mess around for another hour before actually attempting to be productive. Job hunting would commence after they exhausted all other forms of domestic procrastination, and then they would reconvene for lunch. Rose was actually learning how to cook without spells (she felt incredibly independent just thinking about it) so she would always come back to the house, crack open a cook book, and attempt to follow the intricate recipes found within its pages. Scorpius, locating her every time, would try not to laugh as he evaluated her serious expression and the incoming mess before eventually joining her.

He claimed that he really liked her house and didn't want the gryffindor to burn it down by accident.

Rose would firmly respond by claiming it was _their_ house now and no, she wasn't going to _burn it down_. She was Head Girl - surely she could handle a little cooking.

Still, this didn't satisfy him, so again, he joined her. They would prepare food with an incredibly frivolous disposition, and he would flick flour at her and she would pelt him with spices, and eventually the kitchen was a disaster zone regardless of how closely he watched the preparation. Actually, the main cause of danger was probably the distraction he provided by coming into her personal space. He should know by now that engaging in food fights wasn't the best way to produce something edible.

Of course, there was the slight probability that he knew those odds and _liked_ messing with her. But the flips in her stomach (which clearly were there due to annoyance) deemed this incredibly unfair. Their friendship was unfair. He was too nice to her all the time.

At the end of eating and cleaning everything thoroughly, they would weed through their home for things to do, like reading books or watching films or even playing silly muggle children board games that had somehow ended up in her moving supplies.

It was nice, and it was natural. She liked living with Scorpius, and she liked the little schedule they kept.

Today was not a keep-to-the-schedule day, though.

Scorpius hadn't come back for lunch, and she was honestly starting to get worried. The platinum blonde was never late to reconvene for food, and he was often there before Rose as a way of silently flaunting his punctuality. So where was he now?

After another hour of waiting, Scorpius came back, smiling a little. If possible, this made her slightly more worried, because the smile seemed to be impairing his senses. She was starting to wonder if he had been hexed.

"Scorpius," she asked cautiously, "did anybody corner you today? Or maybe is it possible that anybody slipped something in your beverage? Your grin is starting to frighten me." With a bit of a laugh, he took off his coat and hugged the redhead.

"No, nothing happened to me, Ro. It was just kind of funny, really."

"What was funny?"

"Today I ran into one ravenclaw named Juliana Vain," he said. "You remember her?" Rose began to laugh at that, too, because what were the odds?

"Yes, I remember our interaction rather vividly. She was charmed into liking you and plotted to kill me, so we hid out in the hufflepuff common room for the night."

"She was kind of hard to forget, actually," he told her. "And she stopped me on my way back home and asked if I was Scorpius Malfoy. I said yes, and we ended up chatting. When she heard that we were living together, she invited us over to Three Broomsticks this weekend, and I took her up on it. I thought it would be fun, knowing how some of the people in our class ended up." Rose rested her head on his shoulder - they weren't really in a hug now. A hug lasts for a couple seconds, and they had forgotten to let go during their brief conversation. She was choosing to classify this thing as 'long embrace'.

"Well, that's nice of her. I suppose we could go," she finished, and he hummed.

"Good, then." for another long stretch, they didn't really move. Rose supposed that it should have been awkward, but more than anything, it was just warm and inviting. Perhaps that was just her, though. Scorpius tended to have that effect.

* * *

"Why do I feel the need to wear a dress? I never feel the need to wear a dress," Rose groaned, sifting through her closet. Scorpius shrugged unhelpfully from her bed. "I shouldn't care what I look like in front of Juliana Vain. I hardly knew her."

"Honestly, Rose, we're all just going to the Three Broomsticks, maybe getting a few butter beers. You'll be fine," he said, rolling his eyes. "You look good in anything, anyways." She blinked a little.

"Huh?"

"Never mind that. All I'm saying is that this is not meant to be some sort of fancy event. We're just meeting up with another Hogwarts graduate," Scorpius explained. She nodded slowly, but the redhead was still concerned. Fashion was not her area of expertise.

"But what if she thinks I didn't put any effort into this? I know Miranda and Tammy and James and Claire and Lily and Hugo and - "

"Alright, Ro, I get it."

" - and they know me, so they'd understand if I dressed awfully. But Juliana? She's different. Maybe she'll think I didn't put any effort into my attire and then she'll think I thought _she_ wasn't worth the effort and she'll get offended and then she'll - "

"You are a total hypochondriac, you know that?" the slytherin interrupted, shaking his head. "This is exactly how you were about the finals in sixth year."

"I was not!" she said hotly. "I was just concerned about what I would remember."

"You have a habit of overthinking things, Rosie. It's a problem, actually. And I can guarantee you that Juliana Vain from ravenclaw won't give a fig about what you wear." He got up and sighed, starting towards the closet. "If this is really something that needs resolving, I'll help. But know that you are being insane."

"Thank you," she replied grudgingly. With a wry nod, he began pulling out clothing articles alongside her.

"What is _in_ here, Rose?" he remarked after a second, brow scrunched up. "I'm pretty sure you're never going to need or wear over half of what is hanging in your closet." For emphasis, he gestured to a ghastly canary yellow pantsuit. "Where did you even get this?"

"I don't have any clothes, Scorpius. Many of the things inside my wardrobe come directly from my grandmothers or as gifts from my Uncle George, who sends them as jokes. It's disheartening, actually," she informed, a smug smile on her face. "And you said I was being insane."

"That was before I realized you truly have a crisis on your hands. Why is your family like this? Actually, no, why didn't you ditch your clothing by now?"

"Because they are gifts, and it is impolite to throw away gifts, Scorpius," she responded, trying not to sound utterly hopeless. She held out a pair of baggy overalls. "Kill me now, though." He cracked a smile at that, so she figured that the ratty jean contraptions had served a purpose after all.

"Okay, I get it. But this is terrible. Donate them to a charity and play it off as good will," he suggested, and just like that, the redhead's day brightened.

"You are a genius."

"I know. You can thank me later."

In another hour, they started a charity pile and a 'I guess this could be useful' pile on Rose's bed. They finally settled on an outfit for the gryffindor (it was just a gray sweater dress, a scarf, and knee-high boots, but they figured it would work) and Scorpius found one as well. In about five seconds.

 _That lucky git_ , she thought bitterly, because it was unfair that she had to suffer while his closet was perfectly freaking organized and boys could just wear jeans and a t-shirt and a jacket and life was alright. Nevertheless, this meant that they could go, and with ten minutes to spare, they apparated to the Three Broomsticks.

Juliana Vain appeared five minutes later, which was really five minutes early, and smiled widely when she saw them. This, of course, lead them to the present, which was consisting of the two waiting for their drinks while conversing with one expert-hexing ravenclaw.

"So, it's nice to see you guys again," grinned Juliana, slowly stirring her drink with a spoon. "What have you all been up to?"

"I'm currently looking for part-time positions just to get started, but not much is open. I was thinking I'd intern at the Ministry soon and see where it leads me," Rose admitted. "It's not the best plan, but it's something right now."

"I'm trying to apply for preliminaries for aurors," Scorpius added. "I always thought the morals behind the job itself were good, and the premise is interesting. I think it'd be good for me." Juliana continued to nod politely, appearing intrigued.

"Well, you two were the Heads, so I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. I'm currently involved in research, and I think I will be for a while. I like my job so far and I don't really know what I'd do with myself if I didn't have it." The ravenclaw took a sip of her drink.

"Good for you," Rose responded, and she meant it. This was shaping up to be, to her surprise, quite enjoyable. She had never really known Vain in school, but she seemed friendly now, in any case. "At least you know what you want to do with your life. It's nice."

"Yeah," came the blonde's voice. "Nice." They made conversation for the next several minutes, and when the food arrived, the gryffindor was shocked when she realized all of them had held up their talk for nearly an hour.

Juliana finally excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Scorpius grabbed her hand.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Ro? I thought you were, but I just wanted to make sure you were still fine with this." She squeezed his hand with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm alright. It's been fun, actually," she assured him.

"Great, then." Scorpius hummed, and she yawned, leaning on his shoulder. Something about the dim lighting, time of day, and the feeling of being warm and comfortably full makes you sleepy, and suddenly she felt the need to take a nap. Rose allowed her eyelids to flutter closed, and the slytherin grinned, shaking his head. "Oh come on, it's not that late, Rosie."

"It's past eight."

"What are we, seven?"

"At heart, maybe."

"Fair enough," he shrugged, and she moaned.

"Don't move your shoulders. You're my pillow," she complained. Scorpius rolled his eyes but complied.

Juliana Vain came back only minutes later, finding Rose cuddled into her friend's side. The dark haired ravenclaw smirked at Scorpius, who couldn't help but grin sheepishly back.

"It's impossible to argue with her," he defended.

"It is, Scorpius, thanks for pointing that out," Rose snorted, finally lifting her head and poking a finger at his chest. "I thought you'd learned that by now." Juliana watched the interaction with curious eyes.

"You didn't tell me you guys were dating," Vain stated, looking almost excited about the prospect. "I mean, I thought you would have gotten together after the Yule Ball, but nothing ever happened there. You're cute as a couple, you know that?" Rose laughed nervously, feeling the need to crawl under the table suddenly. Scorpius froze, turning a bright fire engine red.

"We're . . . well, we live together, and we're best friends, but . . . not dating," the gryffindor clumsily completed. Her companion remained in a coma.

"Oh. Not to be rude, but why not, then?" The question was completely neutral and understanding, and for some reason it scared the redhead.

"Um . . . " she trailed off. Rose _knew_ she had a good answer for this. She had to have a sensible explanation. Juliana was expecting one, after all, and she had to hurry up and find it. "I just . . . "

Was there even a reason? It shouldn't be this hard to say it if there was one.

"We've just been . . . friends, I guess," she finally said lamely, starting to blush furiously. It was a terrible excuse, but with a small smile, the dark haired girl nodded.

"Alright, cool. Anyways, it's nice to see that you've actually remained friends all throughout Hogwarts and still keep in touch now. I can't even begin to tell you how many . . . "

They sat at the Three Broomsticks for another twenty minutes, in which Scorpius finally started to recover and Rose was able to mostly kill her flush. By then, everything had wound down and it was about time to leave.

"I'd better get home. I have some reports to finish filling out before bed and it's getting late." Juliana pushed in her chair and grabbed her coat, shaking their hands. "It's been nice seeing you two. Owl me if you want to hang out again sometime."

"Will do," the slytherin managed.

As she left the restaurant, Juliana called back, "You would make a cute couple, though!" With a wave, Rose bid her goodbye, and then she limply ruffled Scorpius' hair.

"Funny joke, huh?" she said, looking at the door.

"Yeah," Scorpius replied finally, but she was well aware that he was staring at her. They held hands and apparated back, and as they slipped back into the comforts of their regular schedule, she found herself thinking about what Vain had brought up.

"Want some ice cream, Ro?" the blonde asked, opening up a tub.

"Sure," she responded, and he brought her over a scoop. They grabbed a blanket and began watching a movie, and after a while her head kinda-sorta migrated to his shoulder without her consent, and as per usual, he ended up draping an arm behind her neck. Rose had never really noticed how intimate this was, but now she was hyper aware of him next to her.

"You alright?" he frowned, almost as if he noticed her shift in attention. He was handsome, after all, but she had never really paid that little detail much attention. He was Scorpius, her best friend, and that had been that. It was impossible to think about him any other way.

Until tonight, of course. Now the fact that her best mate was incredibly attractive and was freaking _cuddling_ her was all that she could think about.

Naturally, she couldn't exactly say _that_ to him. Instead, since the screen made his pale hair light up, she directed her gaze to it and forced a grin.

"Your head, Scorp. Your hair looks all pink and red and blue. It's kinda funny," she tried, and he grinned back.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well, cool. I never noticed that before." She chose to stop staring at him because this was ridiculous. Nothing exactly has changed about him - he was the same delightful person he had always been. It felt more like something about herself had changed, and she couldn't really examine herself, so she might as well get comfortable and pay attention to the movie.

 _Me and Scorpius, huh?_ It was her last thought before she passed out, drifting into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Rose wouldn't say that things between her and her best friend got awkward, because they weren't. The two were on good terms as always, and everything was still alright.

But she would admit that life around Scorpius had changed, perhaps. Maybe she was just becoming more alert.

Suddenly, she was hyper-aware of his presence all throughout her house. Like when he did the dishes, she ended up grinning like an idiot for no particular reason. When he pouted she was extra-susceptible to his pleads. When they randomly grabbed eachothers' hands, something that really wasn't that out of the ordinary, she found herself freaking _blushing_.

This was a new low. It was rare that Rose Weasley got flustered, and she didn't like it. She didn't like not being in control of her own senses and having to bite her lip whenever he beamed and wanting to stick her head in the sink after she did involuntary things like _blushing_. Being flustered meant not holding the reigns, and Rose liked holding the reigns very much. She enjoyed being in charge of herself and having tidy plans with little room for error. That was safe, and that was predictable. It was easy.

Being flustered was neither safe nor predictable, and she hated relinquishing the reigns.

The fact that this was Scorpius, her best friend, that she was loosing control to was not good. Not good at all.

She wasn't stupid; she realized that this only seemed to be happening around him. Therefore, he was _doing_ something that made her stomach flip and her heart race. But going down that road with him seemed like a really, really terrible idea. He was her closest friend, alongside Al, and she wouldn't ever risk loosing that for the world, no matter what her flustered-ness was conveying. Her mind would simply have to learn that _no, Rose is not attracted to Scorpius Malfoy, get your facts straight and go find someone else to fawn over_.

Either way, her plan of straight up not falling for Scorpius was in place. If only there was an actual set of instructions one could use for not liking your friend.

Anyways, her silly head would just have to deal, because Rose absolutely refused to let her stupid emotions get the best of her.

* * *

"Happy anniversary!" Scorpius grins, and Rose has to slap herself to confirm that no, this isn't a dream.

Well, he's still there, holding a cupcake, so clearly she's still out of it. They're not married. They're not a couple.

 _Stop messing with me, brain, or I will jab my wand through my skull until you cut it out_ , she warned.

Nothing changed.

Apparently she's a lot more tired than she thought - she didn't realize she was so exhausted.

"What anniversary?" she finally asks, because if this isn't some sort of bizarre daydream then there must be a purpose behind said blue iced cupcake with a lit candle.

"Why Rose," he gasps, hand over his heart in mock offense, "I thought you would remember! Aren't I important?"

"Exceedingly," she responded dryly, and his grin grew wider. "But still, what is happening?"

"And all this time you're supposed to know everything. I should almost feel hurt."

"Scorpius, I will poke your eyes out with a dull kitchen knife if you don't explain to me what's going on right now. I am serious. We are at the counter-top. I could be armed in seconds." With a bloody _laugh_ out of her complete jerk of a best friend, he elaborated.

"Today was actually the first time we were forced to hold an intelligent conversation, remember? When Albus stranded us and said 'have fun, guys'?" A smile began to grow on her face because yes, she could recall that memory quite well.

"That's today?"

"That's today," he confirmed, extending a cupcake. "So happy anniversary, Rosie." She grabbed the confection and blew out the candle, tipping it towards his.

"Happy anniversary, Scorpius." Suddenly, she wasn't so worried about hallucinogens in her system, because of course this was what her friend meant. Clearly there had never been any kind of romantic connotation there. None at all. "To five years of friendship."

"To sharing a house with the most intelligent witch in all of Hogwarts."

"Someone's groveling, there. You've already won my good graces with your cupcakes, by the way. No need to butter me up."

"Who says I don't enjoy groveling? Maybe I love to grovel to myself in my spare time," he proclaimed, taking a bite out of his baked good.

"I guess you'll never have to worry about falling out of favor, then; you'll always be your own favorite person," the redhead quipped right back.

"No, I'm always coming up second best to you, unfortunately. It's a bit of a problem," he shrugged, and her insides were not slowly melting. Still, that was preposterous, because no, she didn't like her best friend, _what are you talking about?_

"Now you really _are_ groveling," she snorted, proceeding to stuff her face as a means of keeping her mouth from speaking. She was bound to say something exceptionally stupid.

"Is it really groveling if everything said was true? Because at the very lest, your test results prove me right," the slytherin pointed out, crossing his arms. The frosting across his upper lip killed the challenging vibe he was going for, though.

"I don't know, but you'd certainly find a way," she finally responded after thoroughly drowning her thoughts about _that_ in cupcake batter. "You're supposed to be devious, remember?"

"Right. At least my nose isn't blue, though." Slapping his arm lightly, she wiped her face with a cautious hand. Sure enough, it came back covered in icing. "I hate you. Move out."

"You know you love me," he smirked instead, and he began leaning closer, cupping her cheek with one hand and reaching for her face with the other.

He wasn't going to kiss her, was he? Because Rose was in no way prepared for that.

Instead, he flicked his thumb over her nose with a triumphant smile.

"All gone," he stated.

"Yeah," she croaked out in response, "all gone." After hugging him for just a moment too long, she went upstairs to have a mild panic attack in her room before returning back downstairs with a book in hand, claiming they could read together. With an immediate 'ok' from Scorpius, because Rose's word was law, he retrieved one of his own, and they sat on the couch and distracted eachother from completing their novels for hours.

The redhead tried her very hardest not to enjoy every second of it.

* * *

Kissing him wasn't exactly part of the plan. This was not mapped out in her daily routine at all. It just sorta . . . happened?

Rose had just been out shopping for a new wardrobe with her best friend, who actually knew what good taste looked like (unlike most boys, such as, to take a random example, Albus). Trusting that his opinion would be completely honest, she began trying on clothes, and he would have the final say in what stayed given that he was the unbiased second party. Though she recognized that, for the majority of males, clothing shopping was torture, he hadn't complained yet and was being incredibly nice about this, and Rose was eternally grateful.

She needed new clothes. She _needed_ this trip.

After two hours, they finally began heading back, Scorpius graciously offering to carry one of her bags. Luckily, home was in walking distance, so public transportation, apparating, or even floo powder was unnecessary. As they rounded the corner on their way to the house, the redhead froze as she caught the gaze of someone she'd rather forget.

Rose thought that she was free of him by now. Life was bloody unfair.

In a seize of panic, she grabbed Scorpius and dragged him into the nearest open store, darting behind a rotating jewelry display. Frantically, she scanned the windows. Maybe he hadn't seen her.

"Ro, what is going on?" the slytherin asked in concern.

"Garret is outside," she whispered, and his eyebrows shot up.

"Garret?"

"Garret." He frowned viciously. So, good, he understood the gravity of the situation. Just like that, Scorpius Malfoy was searching the streets with her as well, silently checking over the people from their vantage point inside. Finally, said ravenclaw was located.

"There he is," she hissed in horror, pointing at him with distaste. In something akin to terror, she continued with, "Why does it look like he's getting closer?"

"Because he's coming in the store," Scorpius answered, and he was correct. With a grin on his face, in a button up shirt and dress shoes and nice robes, the ravenclaw was entering, and he was clearly looking around for something.

As he approached imminently closer, Rose wanted to shrivel up and die. _Why cruel world, why?_

Instead, she gazed at Scorpius, her mind forming a last ditch effort to make Garret go away, or at the very least, to make him think Rose was taken.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," she began, and just like that, she had the complete span of his attention. Nobody ever called him by his full name unless they had a death wish or were deadly serious. "I need you to kiss me."

"Huh?" he questioned, blinking and turning a rather interesting shade of pink. "Say that again, will you?" She resisted the urge to crawl into a hole or slap her best friend, because _Garret was gaining ground_.

"Oh, I don't have time for this," she groaned, and grabbing his collar, she fiercely pressed her lips to his.

This was not part of the plan _at all_. This was, quite possibly, the exact opposite of how she thought her day would go. Kissing Scorpius was never on the agenda of things-to-do, though maybe it should have been, because it felt a little bit amazing.

After he recovered from the initial shock, he had moved his hands to her hips, and hers just kinda ended up thrown around his shoulders. He was smiling against her lips, full-on _grinning_ like this was super joy-inducing and not a ploy, and she found herself smiling back. The world may or may not have caught fire and Rose may or may not have had her heart escape her chest and do some sort of dance. She's fairly certain that at one point she moaned rather embarrassingly, but in the moment, she didn't exactly care. Only her incredible best friend existed, and this was not some sort of distraction kiss between best friends. This was a kiss between two people who liked eachother a good deal more than they ought to, and that seemed perfectly fine to her at the present. Rose was all for this new route of action, and Scorpius didn't seem to be complaining.

When Garret tapped her on the arm (right, Garret, the reason she was in this situation), she nearly waved him off. This was never going to happen again so she had to enjoy it while she could, dammit. But then she remembered that oh yeah, she still needs to get rid of him. Darn it.

"Garret?" she questioned with mock surprise. "Oh, I didn't even see you there! What are you doing here?" Scorpius merely beamed like an idiot behind her, and if that was acting, it was a spectacular show he was putting on. The slytherin even had _her_ fooled.

"Yeah, well, I saw you walk in here and I thought maybe, if it was you, we could chat, possibly go get a drink," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly (or, really, about as sheepishly as one Garret Shelverton could get). "Clearly you were a little . . . preoccupied." Watching the pushy ravenclaw squirm was, quite possibly, the most satisfying thing she had ever witnessed. It was right up there with kissing Scorpius.

"Sorry about that," she smiled, gripping her best friend's hand. "This is Scorpius. You remember him from school, right?" Garret nodded limply.

"You guys went everywhere together - I could never get in a word with Rose without seeing you next to her." Rose laughed weakly, as sad as this statement was. The poor boy still didn't realize that he was being purposefully warded off in school - and here he was supposed to be the smart one.

Scorpius, to his credit, merely extended a hand.

"Nice to see you again, then; fortunately for me, nothing has changed since our Hogwarts years," the slytherin stated cordially, and that was really all it took to pull the wool over Garret's eyes, apparently. It was almost too easy.

The ravenclaw shook it.

"Congratulations to you two, then. Though I wouldn't be too dissapointed if Rose here was single - " He took a moment to bloody _wink_ at the redhead, and she had never despised a wink so much in her life. At least now it was slightly less flirtatious. " - I can see that you all look very happy together."

"We are," Scorpius said, draping an arm around her shoulders as if to enforce his point. "And you?"

This was a question better left unasked. Once the words were out of Scorpius' mouth, there was no stopping the whirlwind of exposition that was Garret. He rather enjoyed talking about himself, apparently.

When the ravenclaw finally left nearly ten minutes later, they let out identical sighs of relief.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you," Rose blurted out, acutely aware of the fact that things were going back to normal. Was it weird that this slightly dissapointed her? "You are the best person alive and I am so beyond grateful that you are my friend." His eyes lost their shine, almost as if he was coming out of a fog.

"Oh, that? Right, right, no problem, Rosie. He was a git throughout school, anyways." Clapping accompanied by laughter was heard from behind, and as they turned around, a cashier was revealed, trying not to fall out of her chair.

"I think that this stunt you pulled," she wheezed, her face bright red, "was the best thing I've seen all day!" Rose smiled clumsily, blushing, and the fit of laughter began again. "That was great! Just . . . I don't even care, pick out one thing in the store you'd like. It's on me."

"Um . . . thanks?" Thus the gryffindor got a free pair of earrings from the shop and was on her way again, Scorpius at her side, dutifully handling one of her purchases.

As they arrived back, neither of them pointed it out, but it was obvious something had changed again. She was almost certain he was starring at her with eyes not made for friendship, but what did she know? She was probably just seeing what she wanted to see.

For the first time, she wasn't so afraid to admit that maybe she wanted him. Just a little.

* * *

Rose is going a little bit insane.

You see, a week ago, Scorpius started _observing_ her, if that sums it up correctly, and it's messing with her head. He just snatches glances in her direction without really realizing what he's doing, like he's trying to memorize her face, and whenever she catches him doing it he's not even embarrassed. He just smiles and waves, and as a result her face lights up red, her composure officially ruined.

A few days ago he began obsessively holding her hand, which isn't anything out of the ordinary, if not for the fact that it happened incessantly. Sure, since they had first roomed together, they had gotten a lot more comfortable randomly touching eachother, and sharing a house had increased this trait exponentially, but now they were constantly in contact. There's lots of shoulder brushes, shoves, and sneak-attack hugs, but above all, there are hand-holding initiations, and it's kind of strange, but there it is. They're brushing thumbs over knuckles and clutching fingers between blankets, and she can't quite bring herself to ever pull away - she likes it. Possibly too much.

And then there is yesterday, when he out-of-the-blue decided to kiss her forehead. Rose was fairly certain her thoughts for the next minute were incoherent, and when she asked what the kiss was for, he simply replied with, "Nothing, just for being you, Rosie."

It's fairly concerning, his lack of concern. Her general appreciation of everything that flusters her is also rather alerting as well, but she's since made peace with the fact that Scorpius Malfoy will never be attracted to her. He's her _friend_ , she has already established this hard and unyielding fact long before now. It's just . . . it's interesting. It keeps her on her toes, she supposes.

This was why she decided to go on a 'girl's day out' with Lily, and Rose was seriously starting to regret letting her cousin plan everything out without consultation. While she loved Lily, her dear friend was far more skewed towards the spectrum of girly, and this made for an agonizing shopping spree (and hadn't she just gone through one of those? - at least in the other one she had gotten a kiss out of it), getting borderline painful deep-tissue massages, and then getting her feet scrubbed down and her toenails done. Later they would get smoothies (a plan Rose approved of highly) and go see some sort of local concert starring a band Rose had never heard about. That was probably a good indication that the band was cool, according to her cousin, and sadly the older redhead had to agree, so she was more-or-less resigned to the idea.

Either way, now they were sitting in fancy spa chairs while their first coat of polish dried, and somehow, like always, Lily had managed to gear the conversation back towards relationships. Specifically Rose's relationships, or rather, the lack of them.

"Honestly, Rose, you haven't been on any dates since Hogwarts?" Lily gasped, shaking her head. "And here I thought you were going to be the first one of us to get married." The redhead snorted.

"Right. You sound surprised - even in school, I didn't ever go looking for relationships. I'm perfectly content being single, thank you very much," Rose replied firmly, rolling her eyes at her cousin. "And even if I wasn't, I'd be fine, Lily. I know you, and this isn't cue to start playing matchmaker. I don't need you to help me find possible dates."

"Speaking of boys and dating," her companion began with a terrifying smile, just like the one she often flashed in school, and Rose instantly feared that this conversation was spiraling out of her control, "what's wrong with Scorpius?" The Weasley girl tried not to start a coughing fit.

"Nothing," she sputtered out quickly, hoping futility that her blush wasn't noticeable. "Why do you ask?" By the way her cousin looked at her, Rose knew that she hadn't gotten away with anything.

"You like him."

"I'm not some first year with a crush, Lily!"

"By merlin, you actually do," muttered the younger graduate with a satisfied, if not exasperated, sigh. "And you know that you like him." Rose _refused_ to let the Potter get in the last word, no matter how hopeless the situation was.

Because, yeah, Lily was kinda correct.

"I can't date my best friend," she protested, nearly standing up and swatting an innocent nail salon employee. "That would make everything all weird and you know it. Our friend group has a dynamic established." Her cousin merely gazed at the redhead skeptically.

"Rose, you're living with him. Dynamics be damned, everybody knew that you guys were going to end up together. And I mean _everybody_ ; even Albus figured it out. And although I love my brother, he's _Al_ , and he's criminally oblivious when it comes to the opposite sex." Lily reached over and gripped her friend's hand impossibly strongly. "Heck, James and Claire made bets about how long it would take it for you two to start dating. Miranda and Hugo put another hundred dollars into the pot about this. As your friend, I can tell you that everybody we interact with is incredibly invested in how this pans out. As of now, the verdict is still out on who will win."

"Wait, a _betting pool_ was started about our relationship status?"

"My point is that, since you obviously have a thing for your best friend, you should put us all out of our misery and just get together with him already. It might actually relieve the tension in our circle."

"There's no tension," Rose rebutted stubbornly, "and Scorpius and I simply wouldn't work. We've been friends for so long."

"Okay, first of all, the tension and attraction between the two of you is thick enough to cut with a knife," the younger auburn-haired woman started, and though the eldest gryffindor wanted to protest, she had a feeling that would only be playing into Lily's hands, so she remained silent. "Secondly, being friends for a long time shouldn't have anything to do with your compatibility; if anything, it makes you a stronger couple because you already trust and are comfortable with eachother. Lastly, why on earth wouldn't you work out? All of us think you guys would be rather brilliant together." The Potter waited patiently for Rose to speak again. While she knew that eventually she would crack under the pressure and spill, she was hoping to procrastinate a little while longer.

Finally, in a hushed tone, Rose looked at her newly painted toes and said, "He probably doesn't even see me like that." This was the true, bolded, underlined and highlighted statement that had kept the redhead from ever even considering beginning something with her best friend; he was _Scorpius Malfoy_ , one of the best and closest people in her life, and there would be no coming back from that. If it all went to hell and a handbasket, she could loose him, and that would simply be unbearable. Scorpius had been by her side far too long for her to risk that, and so a relationship could never be in the cards.

It's just easier this way, if he doesn't feel the same; there was absolutely 0% chance of heartbreak.

Lily, though typically kind and understanding, merely shook her head in borderline disappointment.

"Rose, know that before I speak, you are my cousin and I love you. You are the sister I've never had and the smartest person I know, and if there was anybody that I wanted on my side, it would be you."

"But . . . "

"But you're an idiot," the younger girl finished, completing the statement with raw, unbridled sincerity. Nodding slowly, Rose looked up.

" . . . Alright, why am I an idiot again?" No, Rose was not _miffed_ , this was simply curiosity at work. She wasn't the slightest bit hurt that _Lily_ of all people, aka the sweetest girl on earth, would call her dim-witted. Not at all.

"Scorpius not feeling anything for you is just about the opposite of your problem," she remarked back with so much pity and sympathy, the gryffindor felt like she had sighed up for disaster relief. "You are both bloody wankers when it comes to romance, and as oblivious as Pen and Al. No wonder you're going to end up together."

"We are not going to live together, get married, have a white-picket fence, and raise children just because I have a _crush_ , Lily!"

"Well, at least you already have the house thing down. Real estate's getting expensive, you know."

" _Lily!_ "

"What? I'm just saying. Now, on the other hand, when do you think James and Claire are going to get engaged? Because with the way they already bicker like an older married couple I think that . . . " Just like that, the status quo was back in place.

And Rose thought she was going insane after Scorpius' shift in behavior; heck, that was why she had jumped to be distracted by her bubbly cousin.

Imagine having to deal with Scorpius AND Lily; now that's a recipe for disaster.

It's official: Rose Weasley is slowly loosing her mind, and it's all their fault.

* * *

Tammy's boyfriend, Chase (yes, the slytherin quidditch team player Chase who took her to the Yule Ball; see, Rose didn't even know they were still seeing eachother, and it started to make her feel like a bad friend) was holding a Halloween party, and since Miranda's cousin was generous enough to extend invitations to all of them, Rose felt compelled to go.

And, you know, have an excuse to see everybody and eat free food. That was pretty nice, too.

In any event, it was one of those grown-up costume parties, and everyone pretty much had an idea of what to do. When she asked Scorpius about it, all he did was smirk smugly and say, "you'll see", which wasn't helpful at all, but at least he had a plan.

About five minutes before they had to leave, she grabbed a plain white tank top and dark pants out of her wardrobe with a sigh. She changed into them and tugged on a pair of tall brown boots and a trench coat before throwing her hair into a ponytail with a thick cap over top. A magnifying glass she had found from a chemistry set inside one of the boxes they unpacked was slipped into her pocket, and after putting on her only watch and slinging a Polaroid camera around her neck, she was finally done frantically trying to compose a costume.

Rose Weasley: detective extraordinaire. It wasn't exactly her finest work, but since she had completely forgotten to actually get something to change into, it would have to do.

With that, she shoved her few essentials into another large buttoned pocket and patiently waited in the living room for one Scorpius Malfoy. He came down mere seconds later, dressed up and sporting the world's most satisfied smirk.

He was wearing his old quidditch robes.

Rose began laughing.

"What? I had to suffer through two years of being on the team; I am _going_ to get some extra mileage out of the uniform," he stated proudly, feeling rather clever. The Weasley shook her head.

"You're going as a quidditch player?"

"As a Hogwarts slytherin quidditch player, yes. If people are looking for a more profound answer, I'll say I'm pretending to be my past self. Everyone will love it."

"You're ridiculous."

"Exactly. Therein lies the genius."

"Lovely," she smiled. "Shall we be off, then?"

"Yup." With a handful of floo powder, he stepped inside their fireplace and disappeared. Rose followed suit seconds later and landed inside the modest household of Chase the ex-slytherin chaser. Tammy, turning her head towards the green flames in the fireplace, beamed brightly and hugged them both.

"Hey, so great that you could make it!" the dark-haired girl said. "What are you supposed to be, Rose?"

"A detective," she grinned back sheepishly. "A little last minute, but it works." Tammy waved her off.

"You look great anyways, trust me. I'm a fairy," Tammy explained, gesturing to her puffy blue dress, sparkling silver wings, and heels. "I had some stuff in my closet and found some old costume wings and I kinda improvised, just like you." With that, she finally noticed Scorpius, looking him up and down with scrutiny. "Wait, so you're a quidditch player?"

"Or my past self - whichever sounds cooler," he shrugged with pride. The redhead rolled her eyes, though her smirk was distinguishable.

"He cheated," Rose proclaimed, and Tammy nodded in agreement.

"Yup, but that's how you know that he's a slytherin, after all."

"I suppose so."

Ten minutes later, Chase materialized next to them, kissing his girlfriend on the forehead and officially welcoming them to the party. Though Rose had rarely ever interacted with the quidditch player, he was nothing but cordial, and she silently approved. As he turned around in a knight uniform and went to talk to another group, Tam did the same, and Rose and Scorpius began scouting for any other people they knew.

Soon they found Claire and James, bantering in the corner, wearing angel and demon costumes.

"Personally, I think she's the devil out of the two of us," the Potter grumbled briefly to the pair. He cast a long disapproving glance at his girlfriend, who was currently sporting a flowing white dress and a set of fake feathered wings. "But she insisted."

"Good to know," Scorpius remarked, trying not to chuckle. Rose elbowed him lightly.

Just then, Claire grabbed James' hand, tugging him off towards the punch bowl, and it was obvious that the dark-haired boy was holding back a grin.

"You know, they seem rather miserable," the redhead assessed, watching a red-tux-wearing cousin and his girlfriend serve themselves. "I can't believe they're still together." This elicited a grunt of exasperation from her companion.

"I can't believe they haven't gotten engaged already. He's twenty one, she's twenty, and they've been an item for three years, give or take a few months." Scorpius sighed as he watched them. "You think they're going to get married in two years or three, knowing them?" The Weasley gave the question some thought.

"Definitely engaged in two, but they'll probably wait another two years to have a wedding. Knowing them, I mean," she answered, shaking her head. "They probably won't even believe that they're in this together until they've got children and a dog in the suburbs."

"Agreed." They shook on it.

Throughout the night, they saw several random slytherins from Hogwarts, and many of their friends were often picked out amongst the crowd. Penny and Al were spotted in doctor and nurse outfits (respectively, of course). When asked about it, all Albus did was chuckle, pat them both on the backs, and say, "Pen really loves that show Grey's Anatomy."

Miranda was seen a little later, dressed as a cowgirl, trying to fend off random come-ons. Luckily, seeing as princess Lily was next to her, An didn't have to bare the brunt of the attracted guests. Rose was contemplating saving Lily from pushy slytherin boys, but the younger ginger seemed to be handling the attention quite well, so Rose figured she would be alright without intervention.

All in all, it was kind of a jumble, but it was fun. She was enjoying herself.

Finally, near the end of the night, everything was winding down. Penny, Lily, James, and Albus had already left, and so only Rose, their hosts, and a few stragglers remained. An was chatting with her cousin and offering to help clean up in the background while some random girls were gathering their things.

Actually, one of them was coming closer, it seemed.

"Hey there, handsome," some blonde purred (honest to god _purred_ like some sort of rabid cat), putting a hand on Scorpius' shoulder. She was grinning at him in a way that was almost predatory, nails already curling into his uniform, her eyes slightly glazed over from what was quite possibly firewiskey. Though she was probably intoxicated and therefore not entirely responsible for her actions, Rose instantly disliked her.

"Hi," Scorpius responded stoically, his face dropping as he remembered the days he spent helping people back to their beds after parties. Merlin, Rose could practically see the horrors of leading Miranda to her dorm flash across his eyes. Clearly he knew where this was headed. "Wouldn't you rather go talk to Tam and Chase? I'm sure they can help you out." Instead of leaving, she flounced and giggled.

"No, silly," the blonde said, batting her free hand as if the very thought was ridiculous. "You're really nice. Do you come here often?" The slytherin boy, to his credit, didn't shove her away and leave.

"No, not really."

"Aww, that's no good," she pouted, leaning up on her tip toes and stroking his hair. Scorpius suddenly became visibly uncomfortable. "Don't you like me?"

"Hey, I don't know who you are, but I think you drank too much. Do you have friends around? Do you think Tam can take care of you?" he pressed, and from her vantage point next to them, Rose grimaced. She wanted to do something, but what? Scorpius was far more versed in this situation than she was, so she supposed she had to trust that he would be alright.

"I don't want to go," the mystery blonde whispered to the Malfoy. "You're here, after all." With another fit of giggles, she jumped up and kissed him full on the lips, sloppily shoving her face against his. Scorpius' eyes widened to a comedic level.

It would have been funny, almost, if it didn't hurt.

Rose flew into action.

"Okay, OFF!" she yelled forcefully, pulling the startled girl away from her friend. The redhead shoved the stranger into a chair with seemingly untapped strength, practically snarling. "Scorpius has been more than accommodating to your drunk shenanigans for the last minute while you tried to jump him, but attacking him with your face is NOT okay. You are going to get help, floo back, and nurse your hangover far, far away from us, because if you don't, I will hex you to the moon!" The blonde appeared terrified for her life, which was exactly what Rose was going for. "Did I make myself clear?" The horrified girl nodded quickly, her eyes significantly more focused. "Good."

As she scuttled away, probably to pass out in her bed, Rose felt a guilty sort of triumph rise in her chest. Was this unnecessarily harsh? Probably. Should she regret snapping at some random drunken waif? Yes. Did she feel bad about it? Not really, and she that was why she felt guilty.

She was guilty for not feeling guilty. It's a puzzling life she leads.

"I'm sorry, Scorp, about that," she remarked sheepishly, staring at her feet. "I just . . . yeah." Slowly, he beamed.

"You're a bloody saint, Rose Weasley, and I think you've just saved me from the most uncomfortable alcohol-induced exchange I could have imagined," her best friend finally said, gazing at her as if she was some sort of hero. She rather liked being somebody's hero. "I think we've had enough excitement for one night. Let's leave before An's drink gets spiked again." Rose slapped his arm lightly, relieved that he didn't hate her, and together they flooed home. Their conversation continued once they landed in their familiar living room, which was thankfully devoid of intoxicated blondes.

"That was special."

"You can say that again. I think I would rather get strangled by a dementor than go through that again," he said, faking a shudder.

"Oh, did somebody not enjoy their kiss? She was rather passionate about it, I'd say," Rose quipped, and there it was. A sad, impossibly small part of her was actually _jealous_ of that random girl who was drunk out of her mind.

"I didn't want to kiss her." The response was simple, but tinged in a bit of longing, and before she knew it, the gryffindor was replying back.

"Who did you want to kiss?" she asked softly, putting a gentle, nearly feather-light hand on his.

"Rosie, I - " He began, looking at her the way he had after their little tryst inside a store. He was looking at her as if it meant something, or perhaps it meant everything, and like she was the girl he wanted. For one beautiful, glorious moment, she really thought he was going to kiss her again.

But then he pulled away, running his hand through his hair with a frown, seeming incredibly frustrated with himself. It was as if reality had set in again, and Rose wasn't ashamed to admit that the action dissapointed her.

"You don't have to tell me," she told him, smiling one of the fakest smiles she had ever crafted. "It's fine. Whoever she is, though, she's a lucky girl." He nodded slowly, appearing resigned to normalcy.

"Yeah, thanks, Ro," Scorpius finally stated instead, dragging her to the couch. "Do you want to watch something before we inevitably crash?"

"I feel like all we do is watch television. It's our go-to activity without classes going on."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Not at all. I'd love to, actually," the redhead breathed, settling into the cushions.

Scorpius remained only inches away from her during everything, but oftentimes she found herself leaning on his shoulder or lacing her fingers with his while they sat together. Clearly, this wasn't one of those times, and he remained apart from her for the entire time they sat together.

It felt like there was a lot more than inches between them. It didn't quite seem fair.

* * *

"So," Albus started once Scorpius had gone to the bathroom. It was rare that the three got to hang out on their own together, so this endeavor to a theme park was something of a miracle. Sure, after riding on broomsticks the roller coasters didn't seem so death-defying, and regularly seeing ghosts around Hogwarts made all the ghost blaster rides look silly, but despite all of that, their trip had been highly enjoyable so far.

"So?" she prodded.

"So, when are you going to ask his miserable butt out? He's my best friend, Rosie, but he's something of an oblivious idiot," Albus continued with a roll of his eyes. "I mean, come on. He's never going to grovel for a date because he's under the insane disillusion that you'll say no and things will be weird." Rose didn't choke on her water, which was a sign of improvement.

"Scorpius?"

"Yeah, sad, right? I love him like a brother, but you'd think he'd realize some stuff by now." Albus took another long swig of his water and gestured at the park. "I mean, even today you sat next to him on every ride."

"He probably has no interest in me, is all," the redhead tried weakly. Albus tried not to let his eyes bulge out of his head.

"Are you . . . oh bloody hell," he cried, sitting down on a bench. "You're just as oblivious as him, aren't you? You really think you don't stand a chance?"

"I just don't see why - "

"You are," he deadpanned with an excruciating sigh. The Potter ran a hand over his face, hissing in annoyance. "Look, just tell him. I can guarantee you that he's going to say he likes you back, Rose."

"You are awfully invested in this, Al," the Weasley replied cautiously. "Why do you care?"

"Believe it or not, I want you to be happy," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "And speaking of happy, it would make the rest of us _extremely_ happy if you could put us out of our misery and just do something about the sexual tension floating around the air. It's a bit concerning, Ro." Her face turned red far too quickly for her liking.

" _Why I will_ \- " she started, probably about to fly into another famous rant, but then Scorpius left the restroom, so Albus quickly pulled out the park map and began pointing out attractions.

"I say we do the Tower of Terror next, Rose. It looks like the most fun," the dark haired boy stated, his thumb over the little drawing.

"The lines for that are going to stretch to the moon. I'd rather go do the swing ride," she sniffed, silently glaring at her cousin. "What say you, Scorpius?"

"Well, we've been riding all of the super intense rides all morning, so maybe a swing ride would be a good change of pace," the slytherin tried, and Rose beamed triumphantly.

"This just proves my point," Albus whispered to her as they walked away from the benches, and Rose chose to ignore him.

* * *

When Hermione invited Rose over for a mother-daughter bonding night, the redhead realized how little time she had actually spent with her parents over the last few months. Like the good little angel child she was, Rose instantly agreed, figuring that a couple hours with her mom would probably do her some good.

She needed to go home, sometimes. Though she loved her house, there was something about being back in her parent's place that made her feel at ease.

So, she was endlessly surprised when she got another note from her mother that said, ' _Rosie, I'm really sorry, but tonight's not a very good night after all. I hope that's alright with you; go out and have fun! Love, Mom._ '

Her mother was not the type to back out of any commitment, let alone one made specifically with her daughter. Hermione Granger would rather tear out all of her hairs one by one than break her promises, let alone be the cause of a cancellation. So yeah, something had to be wrong.

Hopefully her mom wasn't being held at gunpoint or anything. That would be worrisome.

With a frown, she apparated over anyways, just to make sure that her mom was alright after all. What she found was . . . well, it wasn't what she expected.

Usually her mother's things were all perfectly neat and organized, her desk perfectly put together, her outfits professional and spotless. Today she witnessed her mother with a flood of paperwork littering the desktop and floor, sticky-note reminders pasted everywhere, pens and quills stationed haphazardly across the room. The infamous Hermione herself was hunched over a document with scrutiny, her shirt untucked, her hair a mess, and with one shoe on the other off.

This was frightening. Rose's mom was never _not_ composed, it seemed. This had to be some sort of nightmare.

"Rosie?" the brown-haired woman said incredulously, briefly looking up from the mountain of files. "I thought I told you not to come. It's a bit of a mess, you see, and I'm dreadfully unprepared to do anything with you now."

"I can see that," Rose replied, pulling up another chair and sitting by her mother. "What exactly happened?"

"The Ministry happened," Hermione grumbled, sifting through a new pile. "Somebody was laid off work, and so now I am handling their brief conclusion, and then I have my regular work, then another person retired, one poor girl called in sick, and the Minister himself asked me to look at one of his summons slips. I am being slowly overrun by my occupation and though I love my job I am seriously starting to hate life at the moment."

With a slow, understanding nod, Rose pulled her mother's hands away from the papers and snatched away half the stack.

"I'm not leaving, mom. This is too much for you to handle without going insane, so therefore I will worry about reviewing the briefs and drawing up the conclusion and you will worry about the summons and your regular paperwork. When that's done, we'll sift through the last peoples' assignments together. Now, take a second to breathe, and I will make some of that chai tea stuff that you like. We'll be finished before you know it if you let me do some of the writing."

"Honey, I appreciate that, but it's my responsibility - "

"No it isn't. It's responsibility that has been pushed onto you by everybody else, and no, you're not going to make me go back home."

"Rosie, this is _my_ work, and while I thank you for being so kind, I really can't let you - "

"You will have to hex me into oblivion before you convince me to abandon you."

"I've got it all under control, alright? I fought the battle of Hogwarts and destroyed horcruxes and faced _Voldemort_ when I was younger than you - "

"I'm not saying that you can't do it alone, because I know you can. You're my mum, the unsinkable and blindingly brilliant Hermione Granger, best witch of her time," Rose prodded softly, looking her mother in the eyes. "But even legends can use a little help once and a while. You don't have to be strong and dependable all the time, you know. That's what your family's for; to be strong for you, to be dependable. And there's no way in hell you will get rid of me so easily, mom." With a weary sigh, the brown-haired woman set down her quill and wand.

"That better be some excellent chai, Rosie."

"Only the best for you, mum."

It turns out that, after five hours, Rose's plan had worked out perfectly, and everything was completed and brushed aside. Hermione insisted on reviewing her daughter's writing, only to be pleasantly surprised.

"Rosie, this is wonderful," she said, the slightest bit of awe leaking into her voice. "Where did you learn to write like this? I daresay that you could be an employee at the Ministry with this work."

"I don't know, mum, I've just always sorta done stuff like this. Maybe it comes from reading so often; my professors always gave me perfect scores on my essays," she shrugged, gently tugging away the paper and slipping it back into her mother's bag. "What's important is that it's done, right?"

"Well, I've got about another hour or two left in me before I crash. Do you still want to do anything?" Rose's eyes lit up.

"Of course, mom." Thus they spent their time eating cake on the back porch, smiling and laughing and simply catching up. It was nice, Rose supposed, to do this. Even if the paperwork beforehand was murder.

And, naturally, the next day was even more extraordinary.

The redhead had stumbled back home via floo powder almost at midnight, and Scorpius had helped her get into bed (the sugar crash, the time, and the sheer weight of working had weighed down on her quite a bit). She had planned on spending the day sleeping in until ten, convincing her best friend to stay home and lounge around with her, and stuffing her face with whatever she felt like consuming.

Steps one and two, as it were, happened to be very easy to follow through on. Scorpius had quite liked her itinerary for the day. What she didn't expect was for her mother to spontaneously floo into her living room whilst she and her friend were attempting to make breakfast.

"I've got great news, Rosie!" squealed (yes, honest to god squealed; Rose didn't think she'd ever live to see the day that Hermione Granger cried out like a schoolgirl) her mother. Rose jumped back a good five feet, kind of wishing that they were more cleaned up. She was currently sporting frumpy pajamas and had cooking oil on her palms, her hair falling out of her ponytail in a rather depressing fashion. Scorpius wasn't exactly much better, though he was Scorpius, and you'd have to be blind not to recognize that he was attractive 24/7. Still, bedhead hair, ratty old shorts, and a stained t-shirt weren't exactly ' _hey, best friend's mom_ ' material.

"Hi, mom," she responded weakly, wondering if she could get away with going upstairs to take a shower before engaging in a conversation. "What are you doing here?"

"Haven't you wanted to get a job? I know you've been hunting for one for a little bit," Hermione pressed, lips drawn up in a smile. She was clearly happy about something.

" . . . yes?" The older woman thrust a document at her daughter.

"The head of the records department and the court rulers would love it if you could join come monday," she breathed, eyes aglow and words rushed with excitement. "That brief you wrote? Everybody thought it was great and they're offering you a position." Rose blinked, because there was no way she got this lucky.

"The Ministry is offering me a position? Me?"

"Yes, darling, and I think it'd be a wonderful fit for you, if you'd take it. The Minister himself thought it was excellent."

"Me? Rose, the Hogwarts graduate?"

"Of course _you_ , Rose, you're brilliant. You got top marks on the OWLs and NEWTs and dazzled all of your professors and became Head Girl. Why don't you think you would be hired?"

"So this isn't a joke, mom?" she asked cautiously. Her mother sighed with exasperation.

"Do you honestly think I'd be here if it was, Rose?" the brown-haired woman responded, rolling her eyes fondly. "And here I thought you'd be as excited as I was."

"Yes, then," Rose breathed, slowly smiling again. "I'm going to be a writer at the Ministry." Hermione pulled her daughter into a long, warm hug, grinning once more and holding her tightly.

"We're proud of you, Rosie, your father and I," the adult informed, finally releasing her. "I've got to get back, but I wanted to tell you in person as soon as possible. It's not every day that your daughter becomes your coworker."

"You've just made it weird, mom."

"Well, I need to embarrass you in front of your friends sometimes, darling. Your father's been taking over that department for so long; I need a turn to take you down a peg."

" _Mom_."

"I'm going, I'm going," Hermione laughed, eyes just as bright. "Bye, Rose."

"Bye, mum." And then she was gone, up in a wisp of green flames. For a split second, she and Scorpius remained unmoving in the kitchen, gazing at the spot where Rose's mother had just apparated away. Then, before she knew it, he was spinning her around in circles and grinning like he had just received the best news of his life and smiling.

"I know she already said it, but wow, Rosie, I'm so bloody proud of you right now," he said, finally setting her down and enveloping her in a hug of their own. "Congratulations, Ro. If anybody deserved it, it would be you."

"Thanks," she replied, resting her head on his chest. "It means a lot from you."

"We've got to celebrate," he declared, this _look_ spreading over his face that made her want to melt. Just a little.

"We really don't."

"Oh, yes we do. We're inviting the whole gang over and we are going to spoil you rotten and drown you with support and you are going to enjoy it," Scorpius threatened, mumbling the words into her hair. "Even Albus is going to say 'good job, Ro'. I will make him."

"You're that excited, aren't you?" she teased.

"Naturally. It isn't every day that one's best friend becomes wildly successful."

"I got a job, Scorpius, that's it."

"It's going to lead to success, if I know anything about you. Let me have this."

"Alright," Rose hummed, pulling away. "But breakfast first, alright?"

"Alright indeed."

That afternoon, everybody invaded Rose's house, beaming and cheering and congratulating. Penny, Lily, and Miranda practically smothered her in hugs, James, Claire, and Tam clamped her on the back, and Albus himself even told her that she'd done well (without being threatened, no less). It was all incredibly encouraging, and she couldn't help but fall a little bit more in love with all of them. These were the people she went though all of her school years with, the ones she remained friends with after months. They were slightly amazing, weren't they? All of them, put together, were something rather special.

And as Scorpius held her hand over the table and recounted everything, bit by bit, she couldn't help but feel more _full_ than she'd ever been.

* * *

See, it was the wedding that really changed everything. When Lily apparated to their front door, clutching an invitation and smiling brightly, Rose knew something important had happened. Then her younger cousin opened her mouth to say, "Molly's getting married!" The visit was pretty straightforward after that, and Lily Potter left after delivering one incredibly fancy white letter.

Well. Her older cousin was finally tying the knot, it seemed. Good for her.

You see, Rose had quite a few other cousins that she rarely interacted with due to distance. She saw them over the holidays, sure, and she loved them all the same, but she wasn't particularly close to them because they rarely got a chance to interact. There was Lucy, Roxanne, Louis, Dominique, Victoire, and Fred, but most importantly as of now, there was Molly Weasley.

They all had their special places in Rose's heart; Lucy was always a whirlwind of energy, creative and quick on her feet and an expert painter at the crack. She had fierce hazel eyes and uncontrollable red-brown hair and a crooked smile that would brighten your day. Her feet were always drumming on the floor, her fingers itching through the air and grappling lines onto a page, and that was how they all preferred her in the end. She wouldn't be Lucy if her mind wasn't swarmed with 'what-could-be's and far off places.

Roxanne, with her flowing auburn locks, so deep that they were nearly brown, quirked yet knowing grin, and warm dark eyes flecked with scarlet, was the one who knew things. She was always the picture of graceful intelligence, though her stubborn streak was a mile long and her rebellious genes were even vaster. She was the problem solver, but also the trouble maker, a unique and understood old soul. Roxanne was fiercely loyal to her comrades, though, and in the end, that was all that seemed to matter.

Louis, on the other hand, seemed to be much more gentle and reserved, kind and often a boy of few words. He was a wonderful writer and musician and could compose anything from sonnets to symphonies, his style and speed both improving and varying based on the day. In this way, he was a lot like their dear family friend, Teddy; Louis was one of a kind, a shifter, and his hair was testament to that. At will, it seemed, it would go from pale blonde to icy brown to light orange, the only thing remaining constant being his sky blue eyes, and everyone in the family loved him for all of it.

Dominique, of course, was all dirty blonde hair streaked with pale orange, like a sunset bleeding into the world, and her passion for astronomy was as ever-present as her mane. Though nobody quite knew why, her eyes were kaleidoscopes, changing colors like the lenses she looked into so often. Oftentimes they were a deep blue, dark as night, and her personality was bubbly and contagious as ever, though it never came across as immature. Dom was simply Dom, with dreams as vast as the entire sky, and they would never do anything to discourage her.

Victoire was the family beauty, and everybody had long accepted that. The older girl was a sort of special that shone through like the sun: bold, bright, and impossible to snuff out. She wasn't unlike Lily in that she was unreasonably gorgeous and unfathomably caring, a kind soul. But despite that, she was incredibly bold and powerful, unafraid to let her unpopular opinions be known or to make friends with the most rough people she met. Victoire was the champion, the fighter, despite her blonde princess curls and her flashing baby blue eyes. She was more than just a pretty face, and Rose admired her greatly for it. No matter how often she was knocked down, Victoire rose up again.

Fred, strangely enough, was something _other_. He was an inventor, not a prankster like Roxanne, or a quiet brilliance like Louis, or a dreamer like Dom, or even the self-assured personality that was James. Fred strived to create, to bring new-ness wherever he went with incredible tinkers, and he was never seen without a wide smile and laughing emerald eyes, chalk full of wonder. He was not the son that his father, George, had expected or asked for, but he was his father's pride and joy all the same. Both he and his cousin Lucy had a knack for vision, for instinctively knowing how to make something from nothing, and his amazing works were a clear testament to his devotion and skill. Though he was the traditional looking Weasley in looks alone, what with his red hair and fair skin and merry spirit, Fred was a Weasley like no other.

Then, lastly, there was Molly, about-to-be-married-today Molly. The Molly Rose had grown up with was clever, curious yet slightly reserved, mature from a young age. She wasn't as effortlessly pretty as Vic, or as mischievous as Rox, but she was incredibly charming all the same and worked wonders in the kitchen. Baking with her namesake, her grandmother, had instilled her with a passion for cooking since she was first able to talk, and now she wouldn't be Molly without a spatula in hand, brown doe eyes sparkling, pale red hair pulled back.

For the last several years, though all of them were their own special people that held a candle in Rose's life, the redhead hadn't really interacted with them. Roxanne ended up in hufflepuff to the surprise of everybody, and being a year ahead and in a separate house made socializing with her very difficult, and so though they loved eachother, they had drifted apart after their third years. Lucy, miraculously showing up in ravenclaw, hadn't ever had classes with Rose. Though they might hold a decent conversation and wave to eachother in the hallways, there was little they had in common. Louis and Dom were also ravenclaws, but they were really more close to Hugo, seeing as they were in his year. Hugo himself, when he wasn't hanging out with Rose in her social circle, was in a little group of his own, one complete with Faye, Louis, Dom, and a few other people his age. Molly, Fred, Victoire, and Teddy, whom Victoire had been dating for years, were all gryffindors, but were close enough to graduation that their schedules were wildly different than Rose's, and though she had seen them in the common room, they all left Hogwarts right before her fourth year.

Now Molly was getting married to her old boyfriend, Lysander, whom she had been with since they reconnected a year after leaving Hogwarts. Molly was nearly twenty five, Lysander was nearly twenty six, and although that may have seemed a little young for marriage, they had already dated for about six years. This was simply the rightful cap to their relationship.

On the incredibly fancy slip Rose was delivered, it stated the time, date, type of attire, and inquired if Rose would like to be one of ten bridesmaids (to which she said yes immediately, because, of course, Molly was her dear older cousin and there was no way in hell she would have turned it down). What wasn't stated, however was where the wedding would be. Every Weasley instinctively knew.

"You know, she didn't say where it was, Rose," Scorpius snorted upon examining it. "It seems like a funny mistake to make for such a family-oriented lot."

"It's at the Burrow," Rose responded, snatching away the note with a light roll of her eyes. "You know, that place where ever family event is held?"

"Right. So what if, to to take a random example, one family wanted it to be held at the Malfoy Manor - " She did _not_ cough, alright? " - and the other wanted it to be at the Burrow? Who would win?"

"The Weasleys. Every time."

"The Malfoys are pretty into tradition too, you know."

"Would any of the Malfoy family line want to duel it out with the Weasleys, one of which is the chosen one, another of whom slaughtered Bellatrix Lestrange, and contains Hermione Granger, who's practically guaranteed to become the future Minister?" Scorpius opened his mouth, then shut it. "Exactly." The argument was dropped then and there.

Still, the wedding invitation loomed over Rose's head, especially once she flipped it over.

 _Every one of our invited guests is allowed a plus one_ , read the tiny, perfect script.

A plus one.

 _I wonder who I'm going to end up taking_ , she thought dryly. _Wherever shall I find one?_

So yeah. In short, Scorpius was being forced to go with her. No objections, should he make them, would be allowed.

It was actually pretty obvious who was taking who; Albus was inevitably going to bring Penny, James was going to choose Claire, Hugo was going to trick Faye into coming, and Lily was going to bring along a friend since she wasn't dating anybody. Really, it only made sense for Rose to drag Scorpius off to her family gathering.

This brings us back to the present, where Rose is currently sporting the most annoyingly tall, uncomfortable white heels ever created. They pinched and prodded at her feet just enough to make her want to burn them in a fire, but not enough to make her throw herself into said fire immediately afterwards. It's a delicate balance, you know.

All of Molly's bridesmaids were decked out in the same spring green gowns, which were thankfully comfortable and flowy as opposed to her heels from hell. The ten of them - Rose, Lily, Roxanne, Victoire, Dominique, Lucy (Molly's little sister, and by default, the maid of honor), and four of Molly's closest friends - were silently suffering from their shoes together, but Molly had looked so darn _happy_ by how pretty they looked on everybody that the girls resolved to just keep quiet and let her enjoy the moment. It was Molly's wedding, after all, not theirs.

Still, Rose made a mental note to let her bridesmaids go barefoot at her own wedding. Nobody should ever have to go through this sort of pain again.

In addition to that, all the girls had on these flower-wreath-crown-things that Molly had crafted for them and were carrying items; Lucy held the rings, Roxanne and Victoire dropped flower petals from cutesy wicker baskets, and the rest of them carried fancy lit candles and hoped that the wax didn't drip down their dresses.

Rose, knowing nothing about the art of makeup or hair styling, left those jobs to her superiors, such as Lily and Victoire. They not only helped apply everybody's faces, they also pinned up Molly's auburn locks into some intricate bun something or other and secured an absurd number of white flowers in her hair. Then they wrestled Molly into her dress and shoes (of course _Molly_ got to wear _sandals_ , damn her) and helped curl everyone's hair properly, a skill Rose had never bothered to learn. By the end, though Rose was happy to be there supporting the bride-to-be and her entourage, she was ready to bolt. Wearing pretty dresses, ruby lipstick, and elegant flower crowns weren't exactly her speed, now or ever.

The things she did for her family members.

All of the Weasley family members had spent the whole day setting up enchanted silver tents next to the Burrow, complete with a gorgeous venue and glowing lanterns that hung from the ceiling. Grandma Molly set her sons to work, forcing them to drag in chairs and place tables and decorations, while their wives stayed inside to help her with the cooking. Rose personally thought that this was a smart choice; though she loved her father and uncles fiercely, she didn't exactly trust them in the kitchen. If they were put outside, there was little that could be done to mess things up. And, of course, with her mother and Aunt Ginny on patrol with Grandma Molly overseeing, the food was almost guaranteed to be perfect. Hermione was definitely not one to deviate from the recipe, and Aunt Ginny was incredibly observant and responsible.

It had been hours since all of that, though, and now the guests were arriving. Rose had come early in order to get changed into her provided attire and to lend a hand, though it was obvious that she had no skills to offer, and therefore Scorpius had been left at home. He had promised to show up with the rest of the crowd in actual dress robes, but she wasn't holding her breath. Perhaps he'd show off a pair of ratty shorts and an old t shirt, just to spite her.

Whatever. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it. Preferably through an arsenal of curses.

Finally, after all of that, the music began at the tents set up outside for the ceremony. Roxanne and Vic rushed out of the house door with their baskets, dropping petals all over the lawn. Lucy, auburn curls aflame, walked steadily behind them, proudly displaying two silver bands. Then there was Lily, Dom, Rose, and the four friends, all trying to smile and ignore the fact that their candles were rather awkward to hold.

Molly waltzed outwards after them, holding a bouquet of lilacs and grinning widely at all the guests. Her white dress was simple, and perhaps a little too lacy for Rose's taste, but she had to admit as she stopped walking that Molly looked wonderful. In record time her cousin made it to the altar, Lysander pushing back her veil and smiling.

"Dearly beloved," the officiator began, spreading his hands out to the guests. "We are all gathered here today in order to witness the union of Molly Weasley and Lysander Scamander . . . "

After another half hour, the ceremony was complete and the audience was clapping, cheering and laughing and falling over themselves. Luna and Rolf looked at their son, the woman squeezing her husband's shoulder with a small smile.

Frankly, Rose couldn't remember most of what was said. She was too focused on not dropping her candle.

It took an additional hour for everyone to filter out from their chairs to actually start dancing and eating, at which point Rose had been swept up in the crowd. She had no idea where Lily was, or Al, or anybody else that had been standing near her earlier, and she couldn't see any of her friends. With a groan, she took a seat by the makeshift bar, fingering a glass of champagne.

"You look amazing, Rosie," came _his_ voice, and she perked up slightly. "It took me forever to find you, by the way."

"Naturally. I'm illusive, I've heard." She set down her glass and smiled, turning around to face him. "Hey, you actually dressed nice. I was worried you'd purposefully wear something awful just to mess with me."

"Me? Mess with you? I seriously doubt I'd win that fight," Scorpius laughed, sliding next to her.

"You'd be right," she confirmed, leaning on his shoulder. "Bloody hell, this has been a long day. I mean, I'm happy and all, but it's been far too _there_ , you know?" Scorpius hummed sympathetically, putting a cautious arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall backwards.

He was a good friend.

Only a good friend, unfortunately.

Still, she'd take what she could get and enjoy this while she could.

After a small eternity in which the redhead's face was buried in her companion's dress robes, Scorpius got up.

"Dance with me?" he asked, the flitting grey of his eyes and the fidgeting of his left foot the only indicators that he felt nervous. A hand was extended.

"Well, someone's gotten better at asking me out," she teased, taking it without a second thought. The champagne was starting to burn through her veins anyways, lighting everything ablaze, restoring her energy reserves, and giving her confidence to actually go _do_ something. She might as well get up and dance, anyhow. "I seem to recall someone avoiding the issue quite a bit during sixth year."

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" His words were only half joking, it seemed.

"I'm never going to let you live anything down, Scorpius," Rose said, nodding mischievously. "I thought you would have figured that out by now."

"So cold, Ro. Can't a man dream?"

"Nope," she declared, popping the p, taking in the scene. Out of the corner of her eye, as they lazily swayed around to whatever silly song was being played, Rose could make out Molly and Lysander, her dress exchanged for a more simplistic champagne colored one, and his arms tightly pressed around her. They were sweet, she supposed. "Hey, look at them." Scorpius obligingly turns his head to see what she's talking about.

"Yeah. They seem pretty happy," he responds, staring at them for a long while. He appeared . . . wistful, maybe. Slightly longing.

"What are you thinking about?" the gryffindor prods eventually, gripping the sleeve of his jacket. "You seem upset." Just like that, he was back to reality.

"No, I'm fine. I was just . . . I don't know, wondering about the future, I suppose. What marriage might look like, I guess. With who," he completed, casting her a sideways glance. "Or if I'm ever going to get that."

"Why wouldn't you get married?" she frowned, eyebrow scrunched up. "Would you not want to, or . . ."

"I'd _like_ to get married one day, Rose, but let's be honest, it's not like there are a lot of girls who would want to get tied down forever to guy who's last name is _Malfoy_ , for god's sake. It's practically a death sentence." He said this so casually, as if he'd pondered it over and over again and came to the same inevitable conclusion. Rose simply couldn't believe that this was what he thought of himself.

"I think I've missed a step, Scorpius. Nobody gives a bloody fig about your last name, and certainly nobody would let that deter them even if that was the case. You're kind, intelligent, incredibly attractive, rather charming when you want to be, and pretty damn rich. If being a Malfoy is the only turn off, I'd marry you in a second." He freezes solid, and Rose is instantly confused. Nothing she said was offensive, right? She's fairly certain there was nothing in there to offend him so badly he's fly into existential shock. "Scorpius? Are you alright?"

"You said you would marry me," he states in an impossibly small voice. With a start, she realizes that oh, she's only mere inches away from him and she's just talked about _marrying him_ and now all she can think about is the undiscussed kiss, and now her cheeks are going to be bright bloody red for the rest of the night.

 _I sincerely hate you, Weasley genes. Whenever I blush, my face aspires to match colors with my hair._

"Yes, I suppose I did," she responds carefully, silently wondering where on earth this conversation is going. "And I meant it. You should be proud of yourself, Scorpius." In an utter stupor, this _look_ in his eyes, his hand slides up to cup her cheek. Subconsciously, she leans into it, and he's leaning forwards and she's shifting forwards in her tortuous heels and then -

And then he's retracting again, like before, gazing at his feet with the most self-infuriated expression.

"Ro, I'm so - "

"What?" she huffs, pulling away. Her arms are crossed, and she knows she's being completely unreasonable but this has gone on long enough. Between the shoes and the foreplay and even the months spent living with him up until this moment, though they were composed mainly of good memories, _she's bloody had it_. She is Rose _freaking_ Weasley and she will throw a fit if she wants to. "So sorry, you git? You realize that this is only one of the many times you've done that." Scorpius blanches, lips curled up into something more guilty than angry, and all it does is make her want to smack him more (or kiss him again, whichever comes first).

"I suppose I deserve that," he replies, stiff and hard and every inch a Malfoy. "It's impossible for me to leave the subject well enough alone."

"Like merlin you will. If you drive me crazy like this one more time I think I'm going to transfigure you into a worm, Scorpius." Maybe it's a little extreme, but this has been long since coming.

"Gladly. I'll even move out and leave you to your own devices, if that's the solution," he states, no emotion in his voice, before turning and moving towards the Burrow. The gryffindor seethes for a good five seconds before thinking that, in her alcohol and rage induced mood, perhaps inadvertently sending her best friend packing over sending conflicting messages wasn't the best strategy.

"Where do you think you're going?" the redhead calls back, kicking off her terrible footwear and running through the grass after him. "And don't you _dare_ even think about moving out, you insidious prick, or there will be serious retribution!" This momentarily stops him, in which he turns around with a surprised look (and she swears up and down that there's some sort of fondness there, so all hope isn't lost quite yet).

"Insidious prick? Is that what you called me?"

"It was the first thing that came to mind," she admits, and after smiling, grimacing, and running a hand through his hair in the space of a millisecond, Scorpius swivels back around and is headed towards the main house yet again, where floo powder and a fireplace are awaiting him. "Why are you so set on leaving?"

"Because you're here, Rose," he grunts, throwing open the door.

"Because I'm here?" Her tone is far more incredulous than she'd expect. "Why is my being here the problem?"

"Because _I'm_ the problem."

"And here you just said my coexisting with you was the margin of error. Tell me, Scorpius, why exactly do you think I'm mad?" It was a pathetic sort of taunt, one she never expected to work, but perhaps he was just as utterly done with the situation as she was, because the slytherin grabbed her shoulders and answered.

"Obviously, you're beyond pissed at me because I keep trying to bloody _kiss_ you and it's getting on your nerves!" Scorpius spits out, rather disheveled, and it's in that moment that she chooses to grab his collar and aggressively slam her lips on his.

It's not pretty, it's not planned. Her teeth may or may not have banged his at one point or another and, much like their first kiss, he's in a state of complete paralytic shock for the initial portion of it before finally starting to kiss her back. But by the end, she's fairly certain she's about to float off the ground, and Garret isn't there to interrupt. She supposes her point's been effectively made.

When they eventually break apart, Scorpius is not only winded, he also looks incredibly confused.

"Why would you do that?" he questions, short of breath.

"I'm mad at you for starting things you can't finish, you absolute jerk, not for threatening to snog. Merlin, if I had known, I would have smacked you silly long before now." She sighed, shaking her head. "What on earth gave you the impression that I wouldn't like you? You're _Scorpius Malfoy_."

"Well, you're Rose Weasley. It's not like it's been easy living with my on-again off-again crush from our school years, let alone revealing my innermost feelings about our relationship slip," the pale-haired man scoffs, but he appears to be pretty damn happy regardless.

"So, you've liked me since Hogwarts?"

"Yes, actually. A horrible decision on my part - being enamored with you has been a bit torturous."

"Me?"

"Why not you?"

"I'm just . . . " She fumbled for the words but simply couldn't grab them.

"Extraordinary?" he offered, starting to slowly smile. "Maybe 'brilliant' was what you were looking for." Rose, in response, like the mature and champagne-addled adult she was, firmly smacked him on the arm.

"Shush. I'm rather dull, you know, and a bit of a bookworm. As you yourself have pointed out, I have a nasty habit of overachieving and can't cook on my own sans magic to save my life. Why would you be interested in me, your friend?"

"Because you're Rose, and you're far from dull. You're the brightest witch I've ever gotten the honor of knowing, as well as the bravest and the prettiest." She snorted.

"Like you can say that after knowing Miranda and Lily."

"Oh, I can. It's a different kind of pretty." Yay, and once again, her face was firetruck red. Of course. "And frankly, after all this, I would be incredibly grateful if you would go get dinner with me tomorrow night."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" she asked, astounded. This wasn't real - it couldn't be. Scorpius actually asking her on a date seemed both inconceivable and impossible, a dream that was dreadfully out of reach.

"The first of many, hopefully," he said, somewhat sheepish, and she - rather embarrassingly - shook her head up and down with vigor.

In a relieved response, the Malfoy finally leaned down and kissed her, because he wanted to, and because he needed to make sure _she_ was the real one.

All thoughts of returning to her dear cousin's wedding venue conveniently left Rose's mind.

* * *

She's in a bit of a panic when they actually go to eat dinner. Until then, the premise of him and her doing something inherently romantic seemed more like a flimsy daydream, or a saddening reminder that they lived in reality as apposed to a fantasy in which anything was possible.

But here she was, Rose Weasley, sitting at the table with him, wearing a nice dress and pulling back her hair into a passable fashion and putting on _mascara_ of all things, for the sake of impressing her friend whom she lives with and may-or-may not be slowly falling for.

It occurs to her, as she twirls her all too fancy wine (she would be asking Scorpius how on earth he afforded this place if she didn't already know he was richer than god), that she has no idea what she's doing and has no right to be on any sort of date. When was the last time she even went out with someone?

 _By merlin_ , it was during Hogwarts, wasn't it? She can vaguely remember some trips down to Hogsmead made in third year, and then maybe this one time in fourth . . . wow, did she ever even go out with anybody after fifth year? So she's been in an eternal dry spell since she was _fifteen_?

Well, then. Dating clearly didn't serve as a priority.

Other than an embarrassingly satisfying snog and over six years of close friendship, Rose really had no grounds on which to be here. Scorpius, wonderful though he was, should try to find somebody who would be better at _this_. Who would know which of the four forks on this pristine table was actually used for her posh salad. Who was capable of actually managing their wreck of a mane in the mornings. Someone who was great at relationships and who's father wouldn't scowl at him and who lit up the room. Someone who -

"I'm really sorry, Ro, but I have no idea what I'm doing," he says suddenly, placing his spoon down on the table with a sigh. "I mean, I really wanted to do something special for you, because I know you deserve it and before anything else you're my best friend, but I'm a bit of a wreck and I'm pretty sure I'm ruining this date. I'm incredibly nervous - I honestly can't remember the last time I was nervous around you - and I don't know what to talk about and I'm fairly certain I'm sweating through this stupid _suit_ that I never have a reason to wear and you just seem so _calm_ and - " She starts laughing, almost snorting, because really, he couldn't be more wrong.

"Scorpius, I can barely remember my last romantic outing. If anything's going to go wrong, it's going to be because I stab the bloody waiter for not telling me which spoon to use or when I inevitably spill my drink down my dress. Trust me, there's no possible way for you to mess up." At this, he began to sag into his chair, and only then did she realize that he had been just as panicky as she was all night. Merlin, they really were a mess.

"In that case, would you be willing to get the bill and go back home? That horrendous muggle show that you like has a new episode, I think."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't think I've ever been more uncomfortable in my life, sitting here. I hate these kinds of events - my dad used to make us all sit through dinners like this when I was little. It was awful."

"You poor baby," she smiled widely, significantly less ladylike. "Did you have nightmares?"

"Too many to count, I'm afraid. The horrors of proper dining with socialites is a fear I think I'll never outgrow."

"So, in summation, we're leaving the fancy sit down restaurant in order to watch a terribly cheesy soap opera on an old couch?"

"That's the plan," Scorpius remarked, shoving aside his food. "Unless you would rather stop for ice cream on the way back."

"You are the best date I've had since forever," she stated seriously, already getting up.

"I try." When they finally arrive back home, he laces hands with her, and then they open the door.

Maybe she doesn't know anything about how to be in relationships - neither does he. Rose realizes that they're not going to be the overly romantic, rose-tinted-lens couple who loves grand gestures and strives for perfection. She's never going to enjoy incredibly glamorous venues and fancy forks. But they're real, and they've got a lot to figure out on their own, and she likes their idea of romance better, anyhow.

"So, maybe next time, we should just go see a movie," he suggests halfway through the episode.

"I'd like that," the redhead answers honestly, grinning at him. "We're going to raid a store for candy beforehand, though. The prices they charge for junior mints is staggering."

"Agreed." After a brief glance, silently asking for permission, he kisses her then, because he can and because he wants to. It's a little unexpected, but she likes it anyhow.

* * *

Is there a word for best friends / not quite girlfriend-boyfriends / kinda living together / in a relationship but just starting out? Because if so, that's the label she would be putting on herself and Scorpius right now.

There's a lot of spontaneous 'dates', like a randomly pulled trip to a mini golf course and a impromptu trip to a bowling alley and even a 'we're bored so let's go somewhere' visit to a beach in the middle of nowhere.

It's strange, but it's them, and it works. More often than not, Rose ends up loving those occasions simply because they're in them together.

Also, the kissing isn't such a bad thing. The snogs are rather amazing, actually.

Today is no different - sure she has a job, and he's still pulling some strings in hopes of getting into a followup academy for auror training, but other than that, their private lives haven't changed that much. She's sitting in Scorpius' lap reading over some silly magazine and he's got a book in hand, quietly flipping through the pages with his arms propped over her knees.

It's cold, alright? It's the start of December and their house is a little older and though she _could,_ hypothetically speaking, get up and turn on the heater, not doing so gives her the excuse to use Scorpius for warmth. It's kind of ridiculous, but when are they ever _not_ ridiculous?

Besides, it's not as if her slytherin companion was complaining.

"Why is it that characters in novels always have to be painfully stupid?" Scorpius finally says, breaking the peaceful silence. "I mean, if you've ever seen a horror movie or possess even a lick of common sense, you'd know that splitting up and investigating the source of an ominous noise coming from the shadows _by yourself_ is a terrible idea."

"If they were sensible, there wouldn't be a story, now would there?" she responded, smiling slightly behind the inky pages. "And without the story, we wouldn't have any characters to mock, and then we wouldn't know about their pitifully stupid exploits. It's a vicious cycle."

"That's true. Whatever would we do with ourselves then?" he remarked, setting down his book.

"Use our time wisely, I'd imagine."

"The horrors." Resting his chin on her shoulder, he looked at the magazine. "And I see you're learning about the intriguing exploits of one infamous popstar and her boyfriend. Tell me, do you think their relationship was as scandalous as this very informing article claims?" Rose rolled up her magazine and turned around to whack him with it. Scorpius only laughed.

"It's interesting, sometimes," she insisted. "And the health sections can have useful tips."

"Rosie, the front cover says 'From Drab to Fab: The Secrets Behind My Sexy Bod'. It's not exactly educational material."

"I don't like you right now," she huffed, poking a finger at his chest. "This is my only rebellious act against adulthood. I'm still trying to cling to my teenage years."

"Mmmmm," the pale-haired man hummed, drawing his arms tighter around her. With a grumble, she relaxed into his shoulder. "That's too bad. I'm rather fond of you."

"Of course you are. You have to be," the redhead complained, her words getting lost in the fabric of his shirt. "You're lucky I'm willing to ignore the blatant attack on my reading material because I'm freezing."

"Lucky me," he repeated, and with her ear against his side she could hear the vibrations in his chest as he spoke.

Eventually she drifted off like that, all turned around and sprawled out over his chest. She blushed a furious shade of red when he said, "Afternoon, Ro," and kissed her forehead, sliding her off his lap and going to make lunch/dinner.

All in all, it wasn't such a bad day.

* * *

Christmas rolled around in a fit of golden lights and carols, just as bright and shiny and _magical_ as it had been in their Hogwarts years. In an almost too domestic fashion, Rose and Scorpius ended up decorating the house together.

Seeing as it was their first holiday in their new place, they had no ornaments, garlands, tinsels, or anything remotely festive, and shopping became an ordeal. It took nearly an hour to find a tree, mainly because Rose wanted it to be perfect and Scorpius didn't much care. A tree was a tree was a tree - as long as it appeared halfway decent, it was obvious that he would settle for it.

Sadly, most of their interaction over the menial task went like this:

"What do you think of this one, Scorpius?"

"It looks fine, Ro. We can pay for it an apparate back home right now if you want to."

"Really? I think it's a little scraggly at the top. Maybe we should keep looking."

"Whatever you say, Rosie."

"Oh, well here's another one! How does this one compare to the others?"

"They're all big and green, to be honest. They look exactly the same to me."

"Don't be daft, they're completely different! But I guess it's a little too fat around the middle. We should probably go to the next row."

By the end of their endeavors, a pretty fir and a tree stand were purchased at the cost of Scorpius' sanity.

String lights were precariously hung inside their house via magic, cheerful old muggle music was played in the halls, and their enormous dead plant was placed in the living room next to the fireplace. Life was good.

But, of course, celebrating on their own wouldn't be much fun, and frankly the two hadn't seen their friends nearly as much as they had during their Hogwarts years. So, a week and a half before Christmas, everyone was invited over to make new ornaments for their tree, make other decorations for the inside of the house, and bake cookies. It was more of an excuse to get all the graduates together than anything, but nobody was going to complain or point out the obvious.

Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Thus Tammy, Lily, and Juliana Vain of all people (Rose, in a spontaneous move on her part, decided to invite the ravenclaw over, and so far she had fit into their group dynamic rather well) where in her kitchen, giggling over some silly holiday pun that had been made and stirring fresh dough with vigor. Claire and James were painting ornaments - everybody was going to produce three each, and so far all that the couple had really put on their respective items was a bunch of clumsily applied glitter. This may have had less to do with their decorating process itself and more to do with the fact that Claire was throwing glitter at James every time he said something stupid in an attempt to get a rise out of her, which happened rather often.

Either way, this made Rose eternally grateful that Al, for once, was keeping out of trouble. Penny was probably to thank for that - she kept him focused on the task of applying lights to the tree and silently watched the Potter to ensure that a fire wasn't accidentally started. Thank god Albus had met the hufflepuff, actually - she was good for him. He may or may not have ended up dying alone if the strawberry blonde hadn't existed, Rose thinks, but some things are better kept to yourself. God knows there would be hell to pay if her cousin ever found out about her silent, disheartening commentary on his love life.

Faye and Miranda, in about ten minutes' time, had found a way to enchant Rose's ceiling in the foyer. When you walked in the door, silver sparkles and snowflakes danced in the air, twinkling silently like falling stars. It was both beautiful and magical, all in its own right.

"Your girlfriend's smart, Hugo," Rose smirked, sipping her eggnog in an almost sly manner. As per usual, his ears turned an astounding shade of red.

"She's _not_ my _girlfriend_ Rose, by merlin, let it go."

"When you stop liking her, I'll consider it."

" _I don't like Faye,_ we're just friends."

"But you wish you were more, right?" she pressed. Her little brother broke into a fit of coughs upon that statement and wandered off to find her bathroom.

Messing with him was rather gratifying, most days. She missed that.

Eventually they all sat down for dinner, Miranda and Rose herself levitating the food onto the dining table. Lily had insisted they all eat by candlelight, because according to her younger cousin, candles "Establish a certain holiday-esce mood, Rosie, and you can stuff your face with the lights on anytime. This way is more _romantic_."

Predictably, Albus sat at the end of the table, closest to the island, and has insisted Penny sit to his left, which she had with a fond roll of her eyes. Next to her was Miranda, with Tammy and her dragged-along boyfriend at her side. Juliana, surprisingly, had a few classes with Chase the former chaser, and thus the fact that she was haphazardly shoved in next to him didn't bother anyone. On the opposite end of the enormous table (thank god Rose had possessed a ridiculous number of dining room chairs before this) sat Scorpius, parallel to Albus, and to his right was Rose, then Hugo, Faye, Lily, James, and lastly Claire, who looked as though she wanted to impale her boyfriend with her dull butter knife. To be fair, though, most of the Weasley-Potter clan felt this was at any given moment, and really, Claire and James were always ghastly towards eachother, anyhow.

Though nobody understood it, this was how they were 'affectionate'.

Horrible, really.

Dinner, which consisted of chicken, potatoes, candied yams, pineapple pudding, stuffed pheasant, cinnamon rolls, and corn on the cob, took them an entire hour to get through. By the end of the entire event, everyone was stuffed, though Lily insisted that they had to come back and eat the cookies they had made and some pies she had brought over. Chase, bless his heart, turned stark white when he realized he wasn't exempt from this rule - no matter who you were, Lily was a force to be reckoned with when her mind was set on something. He looked to his girlfriend for support, but Tam simply shrugged helplessly and mouthed the word 'sorry'.

Still, while awakening from their food comas, doing much of anything was a struggle. So when An cheerfully announced that they should get up and do a white elephant exchange in the meantime, there was a collective round of groans from everybody but Al, who seemed rather contemplative. This was weird in and of itself, because getting her dear cousin to shut up was often a feat of magic on its own.

But praise merlin for small miracles, she supposed.

"Alright, so everybody has the item addressed to them?" An asked, looking around at the group. Everyone had situated themselves in the living room, sitting on the couches. They all nodded in agreement at the ravenclaw except for Juliana, who had been invited last minute. She waved them off, claiming she didn't much care for gifts - her apartment was small, anyhow. "Good. We'll start with Tam and work our way around in a circle. We're roughly in one, anyways."

"What, like when we were kids? Next are we going to start sitting criss-cross-applesauce?" James argued. A glare from the ravenclaw quickly shut him up.

"I've . . . " the slytherin paused, pulling the tissue paper out of a small, flimsy black bag, "got what appears to be a voucher to a spa and a snake armlet." She pulled them out as though to demonstrate her point. "So . . . Lily?" The redhead smiled.

"Yup! I saw the bracelet and thought of you. Going in the circle, I guess it's Claire's turn." The dirty blonde had only received a plain envelope as her gift, and with a curious rip, she pulled out two tickets.

"No way," she breathed, running her fingers over the fronts with awe. "James, look at this!" He glanced over and his jaw fell as well. "Did you do this?!"

"No, but I love whoever did," he said, starting to grin. "This is incredible!"

"What's happening?" Rose pressed, frowning in confusion. "I think they've just lost their minds."

"Oh, this is a perfectly natural reaction," Miranda claimed, smirking in a very self-satisfied way. "It's not every day that you get front row seats to the World Cup." Claire's head whipped around.

"An?"

"Well, we're not exactly rich, but my parents know some of the players and some strings were pulled." The blonde flung herself over to the couch, hugging the girl fiercely.

"You are a beautiful human being and my best friend," she whispered. James nodded in agreement, the appreciation written all over his face. Trying not to laugh, Miranda patted the woman on the back.

"Right. Hugo, it's your turn."

"I seem to have a big cardboard box," he remarked, examining it briefly before ripping it open. Inside was something wonderful. "An Atari?" He took it out of the box with something resembling wonder and flipped it over, caressing the top. "I haven't seen one of these since I was small." Without waiting for anything to be guessed, James cut straight to the explanation.

"I found it in Great Uncle Granger's attic a few years ago and I thought you might like it. It's got nothing on front row seats, but you might get some use out of it." Then he nudged the boy. "And, you know, maybe you could play it with someone . . . " At that moment, as if on cue, Faye leaned forwards, inspecting the object.

"I've never seen one of these before. What do you do with it?"

"Well . . . " Everyone was more than content to let Hugo and his not-girlfriend talk, moving on and giving them their space.

"Right, James?" Rose coughed. Her cousin stuck out his tongue in indignation but picked up his present - a long, thin box wrapped in ruby red paper - and tore into the gift. His smile was, really, entertaining enough on its own.

"It's a . . . it's a new broom," he said, sounding rather awestruck. "I've always wanted this model." The Potter's eyes swept across the room. "Al? It wasn't you, was it?"

"Don't look at me, I don't know anything about brooms. I just played the sport," the younger sibling replied, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid I'm to blame for that," Penny admitted sheepishly. "I heard you mention needing a new broom the other day and this was in the front window. I just hoped you'd like it."

"I love it!" he exclaimed, momentarily shoving Al aside and enveloping Pen in a hug. "You are an angel, Pen." To her credit, the hufflepuff tried not to laugh.

"Alright, stop hogging my girlfriend," Albus whined after a few long seconds. "This is getting rather uncomfortable to watch."

"Just a bit longer," was the muffled response. The strawberry blonde rolled her eyes.

"So . . . we skipped Faye for now because she and Hugo are all wrapped up eachother and James has gone. It's my turn now, right?" Lily pressed, clearing her throat. With a nod from Miranda, the girl squealed and eagerly picked apart her present. "Oh, earrings! They're beautiful," the redhead exclaimed, eyes bright. "I would have said An, but she's already taken . . . Tam?"

"I'm hurt, Lily," Rose scoffed, feigning offense. "And here I thought you were my friend."

"Rose?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"You? Buying jewelry?"

"Yes."

"For me? For this?"

"Yes, Lily, they came from me. What about receiving earrings from me is so hard to believe?"

"Well, Ro, you're just not somebody who's too worried about fashion is all. You tend to lounge around in sweaters and comfy jeans."

"In other words, you have no idea what taste is," her brother added helpfully, having finally stopped talking to Faye. Rose scowled magnificently at him.

"I love you too, brother dearest." And Lily certainly didn't need to know that they were the same earrings she had gotten for free off of a cashier after kissing Scorpius. That detail wasn't relevant at all.

"It's Pen's turn, right?" Albus asked, interrupting what was sure to be an argument of epic proportions. With a frown and a nod from Rose, the strawberry blonde began slowly unwrapping her box. When the green thing opened, there was another slightly smaller one inside. The hufflepuff laughed when that container yielded another one, and then another one, and then finally a small, black, velvet box.

"Oh," she breathed as she pulled it out. "Is this . . ."

"You don't have to say yes right away," Albus said, and for perhaps the first time in her life Rose thought he sounded 100% serious. "I mean, I know it's a lot, but I honestly can't imagine spending my life with anybody but you. I've been kind of mad for you since Hogwarts, Pen."

"I bare witness to that," Scorpius interjected.

"Not helping, mate. You better sod off, this is _my_ proposal." Albus was scowling fiercely at his best friend, and this prompted Rose to slap him before covering the slytherin's mouth. "Now, as I was saying, I know I'm not exactly the most perfect person. I have absolutely no idea why you all stick around. But I'm certain that I'm in with you for the long haul, Pen, and I - "

"Yes," she said, and her arms where flung around her boyfriend. The twenty two year olds embraced and the rest of them kindly pretended that they wouldn't see them making out. "Why on earth did you think I'd say no?"

"Because we're really young to get married and I'm a mess and you're far too good for me?"

"I love you, alright? And who says we can't have a prolonged engagement?" she pressed, folding her arms in a way that, to some, would seem pouty. But she was happy, Rose could tell, if how her eyes were shining was any indication.

"Or do a little travel once we get married? We don't have to settle down right now - we can see the world before we decide to start a family."

"I'd like that." Wordlessly, Albus slipped the tiny silver band onto her finger.

"This is all very heartwarming, but don't you think that we should get a move on? Al still has to open his gift," James added, still caressing his broom.

"James, you ruined their moment!" Claire frowned, stealing his broom. Her boyfriend sputtered.

"Give it back, Claire."

"Apologize to them, then. He's only going to have _one_ proposal, and he's your brother."

"Claire . . ."

"James . . ." she repeated, clearly unimpressed. It was an interesting battle. Luckily, Juliana was more amused than scandalized by their unfortunate behavior.

Eventually it was revealed that Albus got two plane tickets to Hawaii for a vacation, where it was then revealed that Chase's muggle aunt worked for a travel company. In lou of the proposal, it seemed very appropriate. Scorpius received a handmade scarf from Faye, who sheepishly explained that she didn't really know what to get him but she could knit, to which the slytherin laughed and ruffled her hair. Miranda was handed a garment bag from Tam, which was filled with something called a 'watchful dress'.

"It's made to love and protect its owner," Tam explained, "due to its enchantment. They're pretty rare, but the stories about them are fascinating - the people who wear them have escaped drowning, explosions, and a whole heap of other troubles due to the garment's preservation instincts. Also, I thought that navy blue was your color." Miranda had fanned her face and hugged the elegant thing to her chest, saying, "I love it, thank you thank you thank you thank you" over and over again. It was quite the scene.

Rose had been given a beautiful collection of classic novels, many of which had leather covers and were first editions of her favorites, and she instantly guessed Scorpius. He beamed and wrapped her under his arm. It was quite nice, really, even if Lily smirked at them the whole time.

Hugo, before she opened anything, caught Faye's arm and told her that he tried. With a confused nod, she slowly pulled apart the wrappings, and inside was a necklace.

"It changes depending on what you're wearing. I just found one of mom's old chains and she said I could charm it, so -"

"It's amazing. Why the hell did you think I wouldn't like it?"

"Well, I -"

"One of these days, I'm going to kick your butt. You need more confidence. The gift is great." Hugo turned a marvelous red once more as Faye held out the jewelry, telling him to put it on her. In a fit of remarkable restraint, Rose tried not to laugh as her brother clumsily agreed and began to fumble with the clasp.

Rose approved.

If they ever got together and then broke up, she resolved to keep Faye and ditch her brother. She far preferred the younger girl, anyhow.

Lastly, Chase opened Claire's gift, which was chalk full of what she declared 'the best chocolates in the world'. He wholeheartedly agreed after sampling half the box.

All in all, it was a bit hectic, and although dessert was good, it weighed down like bricks in Rose's stomach since Lily insisted that they had to have some of anything. But still, it was them, and in the end, that was all that mattered.

When everybody left, Scorpius and Rose took one look at the mess and decided to leave it be for tomorrow, when they would have brain cells to spare. They drug themselves upstairs, brushing teeth and pulling on pajamas before going into Rose's room. The redhead wanted to watch a movie, and he decided to stay up with her, so after arguing about what to pick they settled on some terrible romantic flick about the magic of Christmas and mocked it relentlessly.

Eventually, he passed out in her room, the television still blaring, and after another few minutes of smirking at the rather stereotypical hunky doctor track down the girl of his dreams that he'd wronged through terrible communication skills, Rose shut off her electronic and turned off the lights, falling asleep under the covers with Scorpius.

It had been a good day.

* * *

The next morning, nothing was said about the fact that he had slept in her bed. Things proceeded as normal, Rose clumsily made coffee, and together they tried to find a suitable place in the house to stash her growing collection of books. Though Scorpius' gift had been wonderful, she honestly had no idea where to put them, and after much deliberation they spent a good four hours enchanting a small bookshelf into being an endless vault for stories. It was a bit experimental, but cross-referencing spells and rewriting prior formulas helped, and after only one small mishap she was fairly certain that the work was permanent.

The gryffindor resolved to make one of these for her mother for Christmas morning. Hermione Granger would love finally having a place to stuff her nearly endless library.

Needless to say, it had been a full, interesting twenty-four hours just like any other. And at their home, Rose and her not-but-kinda-maybe-possibly-probably boyfriend shared a few unplanned kisses. She rather liked kissing him - it was like being set on fire and enjoying the burn.

Maybe it was just that she liked Scorpius overall, and therefore anything associated with him.

For the next three nights, nothing was elaborated on from when they fell asleep together. But on the fourth night, when she volunteered another movie, he accidentally passed out again. Scorpius had a terrible shelf life past midnight, it seemed.

And then again.

And then again.

And then again.

Somehow, over the next several weeks, he had just sorta migrated into her bed, movie or no. He probably assumed that if she didn't want him there, she would have kicked him out already.

Rose rather agreed with that assumption, actually. It was nice to know that he knew his place.

Either way, since then she grew used to sharing her bed - a previously sacred ground - and waking up to his arms around her.

She liked it, as strange as that seemed. Rose Weasley was never one to be coddled or cuddled or smothered, but as in many things, Scorpius appeared to be the exception.

* * *

"Ice skating?" he had asked.

"Sure," she had answered. "Sounds like fun."

 _Ah, Rose of nine o' five this morning. Such a naive, simple creature,_ she thought somewhat bitterly. _I've gotten quite a bit more life experience since then. I've seen things. Unspeakable, horrible things. The dark sides of moons and some of humanity's greatest injustices. I have become wiser and far more traumatized from what I've witnessed today._

In short, the redhead, who was a 'skating virgin', as Scorpius had so aptly put it, had discovered that the great art of ice skating was not so fun after all. At least, falling on your arse fifty times and getting laughed at by your absolute _jerk_ of a romantic partner/best friend is far from enjoyable.

"Oh, it wasn't that bad, Rosie," the slytherin told her, untying her laces after their two hours of skating were up. "You did very well for a beginner."

"A six year old on the rink had more grace than me. She blew me out of the water in a puffy pink jacket and Dora the Explorer skates," she grumbled, crossing her arms and huffing into the frosty air.

"Maybe she's been skating since age five, then. Mrs. Dora Skates may have had a year's worth of experience on you," he refuted, finally pulling the offending shoe off of her foot. "And that's only one little girl."

"That's also only one horror story." He temporarily stopped what he was doing and cocked an eyebrow.

"Horror story?"

"Well, there were other things!" she sputtered in protest, her cheeks going red for reasons completely unrelated to the cold. "Like this man with his pants falling down his butt. Those trousers were trying to escape his waist and I swear that I saw half of his cheeks." Scorpius smiled at her in a way that showed how hard he was trying to avoid laughing. "I'm serious!"

"I know you are, darling, that's why I'm amused," he explained, patiently pulling at the laces on her other shoe. "You're a bit like a toddler sometimes. You have a tendency to say whatever you want to whenever it hits your brain." As absurd as that was, she could only latch onto one thing he said.

"Darling?"

"What?" She swatted him at that.

"No, not _you_ , why did you call me that?" He blinked.

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess my subconscious ran away from me, then, or the man upstairs cosmically destined me to," the blonde replied absentmindedly, the words coming out languidly and slow. "Anyways, you should be good now, so you can put on regular shoes and we can leave now. I'd rather enjoy some hot chocolate right now and the mix is back there."

"That doesn't sound half bad," she admitted, shuffling her newly freed feet.

"Is that enough to make up for the torture you suffered with me?"

"Now I wouldn't go _that_ far," she scowled, though her eyes weren't angry. Not even a little.

"You? Never." With that, he returned her skates along with his own and they apparated home, shedding their thick coats and settling on the couch with steaming mugs.

He slipped and called her darling again over their drinks. This time, the redhead didn't point it out.

* * *

It is when they all head back to the Burrow for the holidays that she realizes she's got a bit of a problem on her hands.

Mainly due to her lovely, infuriating family.

It's her father who spots it first, obviously, because Ron Weasley is the equivalent of a bloodhound caught on a scent when it comes to his daughter's dating life, or the noted lack of it. Up until now, of course, when there's actually something to be worrying about.

All it takes is one set of eyes narrowed at them over the table and Rose just _knows_ that their 'relaxing Christmas get together' has gotten far more complicated.

"What's your relationship with Rosie, Scorpius?" Ron inquires, leaning forwards in a suspecting manner. The slytherin promptly chokes on his water and Albus lets out a cough of sympathy from across the table, which has gone remarkably quiet for a family gathering.

"Me? And Ro?" he finally manages after a great, fortifying pause. "Us?"

"Yes, you," sighs Ron, massaging his temple. "You've been hanging out around Rose since Hogwarts and I'd like to know where the inevitable conclusion is, since you're living together and you're looking at her like _that_." Lily took a moment to squeal in the corner, seeming positively thrilled at the prospect of an intervention.

"Is this a conversation that needs to happen now?" Hermione asks in a low, warning tone. Her eyebrow is raised in a way that screams 'I mean business', and in that moment, Rose had never appreciated her mother more.

"I'm curious right now. It's putting him on the spot."

"On the spot, or on the slaughtering block? Ron, you're pretty much offering him up as grounds for public humiliation."

"Yes, but it's _Rosie_. She's my little girl." Hermione softened, but her resolve held.

"She'd still be our little girl in about ten minutes when dinner is over, dear. Now, if you'd - "

"I'm not messing around, if that's what you were wondering," Scorpius said, recovering from somewhat of a coma. "And whatever Rose wants for us is her business. She's the boss." The redhead was half tempted to kiss him right there, regardless of the fact that her father was there. But alas, she didn't want to cause grounds for murder, so she couldn't. It was a shame, really. "I'm going to be along for as long as she wants me, and maybe a little longer." That, apparently, was all he felt obliged to say, because then he resumed eating, the only indication of his discomfort being the tinge of red on the very tips of his ears and the way his knee anxiously bounced beneath the table. Nobody else would have paid it any mind, but she did. She and Al, they always did.

So she scooted her chair a little closer and squeezed his hand beneath the table. Albus shot him a question about auror training. Slowly, the tension left his body, and that was that until after both dinner and dessert were consumed.

She says until after they've finished eating, because of course, as soon as everyone has left the room at a suspiciously quick pace (except for her little cousin, who was practically pouting at the fact that she wouldn't get to witness the outcome), her father looked at her with intensity.

So. This was happening, apparently.

"Rose? Any thoughts?" Ron inquired, crossing his arms. Though most times her father was incredibly jolly and a bit of a teddy bear around her and Hugo, clearly he was all business now.

"What specifically?" she shot back, crossing her arms as well. Her father does _not_ get to out-intimidate her, not if Rose has any say in the matter.

She doesn't have much of one, really, but she's got an image to uphold, so. Her dad is entitled to a little sass after messing with her best friend at dinner, anyhow.

"On tonight, Rosie," he sighed, his face the picture of worry and exasperation. Her mother put a hand on his shoulder, though it wasn't clear if this was meant to calm him down or possibly keep him from doing something rash.

"There are lots of thoughts I'd _like_ to voice, but there aren't very many you'd approve of," she snorted, and Scorpius let a tiny smile loose. She couldn't help but smile back, albeit rather helplessly.

"Rose, just, before your father implodes, what are you doing with Scorpius?" Hermione said, finally addressing the subject. "We know that you've been such good friends, you and Scorpius and Al, for so long, and since you've been sharing a house you've gotten a lot closer. Ron is . . . curious, is all." This question actually took her some sort of consideration.

What was Scorpius to her?

Certainly more than a friend, but they weren't really picket-fence-and-kids yet. Granted, their kids _would_ look adorable. If she got a little girl, Rose could name her Autumn, and it'd be fitting because she'd have orange hair and his eyes. And a son would be cute - hopefully he'd inherit Scorpius' hair, though, because if not he'd get stuck with the Weasley's untamable curly locks and that would look _awful_ on a child. But blonde was nice. And once Al and Pen eventually got married and had children, their kids could be best friends. God, they'd all be cousins together and the girls could have little tea parties and the boys could have a tree house and Scorpius would be the _best dad ever and_ -

Bloody hell. She's already one of those people. The kind of people who get into relationships and instantly correlate it with getting married and settling down and being together forever.

Luckily, she calmed down after realizing that yes, those people are out there, but you have to be in a relationship yourself before you can count yourself as one of them. They're not even really a 'them', yet. They just have feelings for eachother and live in one house and cook together and watch movies and sleep in the same bed every night and -

Bloody hell. Again.

Rose is actually dating her best friend, isn't she? Rose Weasley, the girl who hasn't really dated since after fifth year at Hogwarts. And she's actually in a serious, rather committed relationship to a rich, attractive, caring man.

Well. That was an unexpected revelation.

It didn't exactly help matters that her dad was right there, silently observing her while she froze like a statue. She's been absolutely quiet this entire time and her parents have been waiting for an answer. Merlin, this probably looked bad.

"Well, I see you've returned to planet earth, dear," her mother repeated dryly. "So?"

"We're dating," the redhead blurts out, and in hindsight she hopes it's okay because she hasn't consulted Scorpius about this at all. "And I'm pretty happy. I love him."

Her companion tenses behind her and she realizes with a start that they've only been doing whatever this is for a couple of months, tops. There hasn't really been time or reason to throw out the 'l word' yet, and this certainly wasn't how she planned it would be said.

Shoot.

Scorpius is silent, her mother has on her infamous poker face, and her father just looks surprised. For a while, nobody speaks.

Minutes pass. Though the Burrow is usually loud and bursting with people, not a soul has accidentally barged into the room in a fit of laughter. That in and of itself is a godsend.

"Well," Ron Weasley starts, walking across the room towards them. Her 'boyfriend' pales to the color of a sheet, because even though he's just a regular middle-aged man, he's a Weasley, and Scorpius is very obviously a Malfoy who's entangled himself romantically with his daughter. Anybody in their shoes would have been rightly cowering themselves.

However, instead of brutally maiming her best friend, the redhead only clamped him on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you already know the drill. If you hurt her, nobody will ever find your body." The blonde nodded at a reasonable, levelheaded pace, which greatly impressed Rose. She wasn't sure if _she_ would have been able to think coherently - she'd never seen her father quite like this before. "That's a threat not just from me, but from all of us. We'll hunt you down."

"Understood, sir," Scorpius replied, all of his usual humor gone. "But it shouldn't be necessary."

"I sincerely hope it isn't. The family really likes you," shrugged Hermione, taking her husband's hand. "I'll just say this: take care of my daughter."

"I think that's enough, guys," Rose grumbled, remembering once again that she was capable of speech. "I'm still here. I'd appreciate it if you would stop scaring off my best friend now."

"I'd say he's a little bit more than a best friend," her mother added nonchalantly, a small smirk twitching at the edges of her lips.

"Hopefully that's not how you act with all of your friends, Rosie," Ron continued, because like always, he could never let a chance to tease his favorite child (or at least, she liked to believe she was - though she loved Hugo, he was _Hugo_ ) pass by.

"And here I thought I was special, Rose," Scorpius hummed on instinct, momentarily forgetting that yes, her parents were still there. "Sorry, I just couldn't - "

"I guess you could have done a lot worse, Rose," Ron interrupted, heading towards the door. "At least Blondie's somewhat entertaining and can put up with us."

"Blondie?" The slytherin's voice was incredulous and riddled with offense. The Weasleys didn't pay him any mind.

"Don't mess this up, Ro - he's a good one. I'd hate to see everything blow up on you." These were Hermione's last words before the older couple left them alone in the separate room, standing next to eachother. The door fell shut with a soft yet resounding bang.

"So . . . that was fun," Rose began weakly, not really knowing what to do. Luckily, she had never been in this position before.

"Why don't we talk about 'I love him'," Scorpius supplied, his eyebrow arching. "That was fairly memorable." The gryffindor winced.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't my finest moment, and I know it's early, and by merlin my parents were - "

"Did you mean it, though, or did it just come out?"

"I hadn't _planned_ on saying it, and it just sorta . . . fell out, but of course I meant it. You're Scorpius Malfoy - who wouldn't love you?"

 _Thank you, Weasley genes. And now my face shall be bright red for the rest of the night._

"Good," he said, and then his lips were on hers and his hands were in her hair and she began the lengthy process of melting into the floor. Fireworks sparked behind her eyelids. Rose's heart was hammering beneath her clothes as he smiled and pulled away, and if she hadn't already said that she loved him she would have been tempted to say it again. "It would have been rather awkward if you decided that I was just alright after that, darling."

"Darling?" she teased, finding herself playing with his fingers. _When on earth did we become so domestic? When did we become a couple?_

"I'm sorry, it's becoming a bit of a habit. Should I - "

"It's starting to grow on me, actually," Rose smiled, and that was all they found room to talk about. They loosely gripped hands and walked through the doorway, and Christmas Eve had never seemed quite so bright.

He didn't say anything back. He never really had to.

She already knew.

* * *

His parents hadn't been over to the Burrow this season - his grandparents had invited them over for Christmas Eve dinner, for once, and they were suffering through a rather uncomfortable formal venue that night. But come Christmas morning, Astoria and Draco Malfoy apparated over, and that was when Scorpius felt the need to break the news to his parents about their relationship developments.

Draco looked impassive, as he didn't have a vendetta against Rose nor was he constantly singing her praises.

"I just want my son to be happy, alright?" was his only comment on the matter, and that was about the equivalent of an official approval from him, anyways.

Astoria, on the other hand, was smirking.

"I knew it since last year," she proclaimed, looking incredibly proud of herself. "For heaven's sake, honey, you moved in with her! And merlin, when you talked about all your friends I figured that you had to - "

"Mom, I love you, but please stop," he pleaded, and with another sigh she stood down. The spark in her eyes refused to die, though - especially after she told Rose to call her 'mom'.

Needless to say, Scorpius groaned a lot over the course of their stay.

Lily was practically bouncing off the walls at the news that they were together.

"I just knew you'd be the cutest couple since fourth year!" the redhead squeaked, trembling with excitement. "I can't believe it's finally happened! Scorose is a go!"

"Scorose?" her older cousin echoed, crossing her arms. "What are you talking about?"

"Your couple name. I made it to catalog your pairing, Scorpius and Rose. Scorose," Lily explained, already off in another world. "And we all needed something to call the betting pool?"

"The betting pool you mentioned at the spa several months ago? It's still running?"

"Of course! The pot's over a thousand units, Ro." Lily waved this fact off so nonchalantly, so flippantly, that the gryffindor's eyes widened to a comedic level.

"A thousand?!"

"And climbing, too. I think Miranda won - James is going to be awfully bitter over his loses. He put in some good money that said you wouldn't get your act together for at least another two years." She was almost afraid to ask, but she needed to know.

"How much is 'good money'?"

"Oh, I'd say about . . . well, there was the extra boost of fifty around Valentine's, and then with the additional two hundred shoved in halfway through summer . . . "

"JAMES POTTER, I WILL MURDER YOU!" Rose screeched at the stairway, hoping her voice would carry out into the top floor.

James spent the next several hours wisely hiding from his enraged cousin.

Most of her relatives were happy for them, and all of her friends agreed that this had been long since coming.

"Bloody hell, mate," Albus said to Scorpius, shaking his head. "It took you long enough to figure yourself out. Everybody knew you were starting to like her again since the end of fifth year. Heck, even _I_ knew."

"Like me again?" Rose prodded, amused. "What happened there?"

" _This one_ was too chicken to ask you out in first year when he still wore glasses and had a lisp."

"You wore glasses?" Rose laughed, enjoying the way her boyfriend shuffled in his seat.

"Only for reading," he grumbled, looking down at the ground. "And Al, that lisp lasted for all of a month. I had just been sick and my voice was starting to change."

"Oh yeah, and god, you sounded _terrible_ during that time," the Potter cackled, practically falling over. "Ro, his voice cracked on every other word, I swear. It was horrific."

"Al, please, stop."

"I don't think so. I'd love to hear whatever stories you have for us, dear cousin," Rose cackled, eyes glinting.

"I hate all of you. Really, I do."

"No you don't." She kissed his cheek, and he sighed in response.

"No, I don't."

"Good," the redhead proclaimed triumphantly, and the rest of them listened to Albus (but most were sneaking glances at Scorpius and Rose).

 _Christmas was pretty great this year,_ Rose thought.

* * *

The following month, once the hype of New Year's had come and gone and the weather outside was absolutely miserable, the entire group attended a professional quidditch game.

It went about as well as expected.

James and Claire, ever the instigators, screeched angrily at the players, causing so much noise that they singlehandedly drowned out everyone else in their section. Albus looked out over the reserves with longing, as his Hogwarts years had finally taught him to appreciate the sport, and Penny was clearly trying not to laugh as her boyfriend leaned over the pitch to be closer to the action. Several times she had to pull him back from the bar so he wouldn't topple into the other fans below, her ring glinting on her finger. It was almost sweet, really.

And then there was Hugo.

Her younger brother had always been curious about quidditch and had often asked Lily and James questions about rules and regulations. He really would have served the school's team well - he had a wonderful eye for the game play. As this was his pro event, though, he was practically bouncing off the chair, face lit up with excitement, his mouth moving a mile a minute.

It was slightly frightening, really.

Tammy took enormous pleasure in stuffing her face with homemade pastries, eating bon bons and cherry tarts and not really paying attention to much of anything after the half time point. Lily, who was usually bubbly and invigorated by the matches, was similarly disposed due to a recent cold. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were watery, and the drafty quidditch pitch was hardly helping matters. She watched the scenery, occasionally making comments through her stuffy throat, but generally just sat back and halfheartedly nibbled on cookies.

Miranda was consuming her weight in popcorn, often jumping up and spilling it on the people in front of her, and yelling at awkward times. Other viewers were starting to fear for their sanity. Eventually, many fans ended up silently leaving their section before the break and resolved to stand out along the lower stands. Rose couldn't exactly blame them.

"Why are we doing this again?" asked Rose, blowing warm air onto her freezing palms. "I should never have trusted our friends to behave themselves in public."

"We're doing this because it's fun and we have nothing better to do with our time," he mused, ruffling her hair and tugging her closer. It really was unbearably cold.

"They're acting like lunatics," the redhead protested, gesturing to their companions. Her hand lingered on Albus the longest. Scorpius smiled.

"Then it's just like any other day, then?"

"Yeah." And suddenly, the absolute chaos around them didn't seem so bad. "Kinda like Hogwarts, huh?"

"I don't recall us dating in Hogwarts, though. That's definitely a plus, I'd say," the slytherin mused, letting out a small sigh. "But hey, at least we still get to not pay any attention."

"You're adorable when you're dating, you know that?" Lily beamed, voice clearer than it had been the entire day. Because, yeah, Rose forgot they had an audience.

"Shush, the final plays are coming up! Stop talking about Rose's relationship for once, _merlin_ Lily!" James shouted, looking rather annoyed.

For the first time since the match began, the entire group remained quiet, watching in awe. As soon as James had called it, the seekers spotted the snitch and went racing towards it, barreling at the object at breakneck speed. At the last second, one jumped into the air, diving off of his broom and into their team banner. Triumphantly, the man brandished the object, slowly sliding down the tassels of the flag and landing in the walkway of another set of stands.

James was rather bitter that the Harpies won. Albus thought that the team was great. Lily complained that she was freezing cold anyhow and _would they please stop bickering and move out so she could apparate home, thank you very much._

It's hectic, but what else is new?

Rose is used to it. Even the way she swings Scorpius' hand as they walk off the grounds feels a little natural, really.

It's just them.

* * *

"That one," she proclaims, grinning widely.

"That one?" He looks skeptical. The gryffindor never likes it when he looks at her skeptically.

"That one."

"Rosie, I'm sorry, but 'bloated banana' is not a name that inspires much confidence in me. Please reconsider." She crosses her arms.

They've gone grocery shopping and she noticed a bakery that just opened next door and really, that's all it took for her to start craving sweets. Naturally, they _had_ to satisfy her palate, and thus they were here to waste money.

"It'll be fine, Scorpius. Merlin, trust me."

The muffin was awful. The worst thing she'd ever had, probably. She spat it out instantly.

Wordlessly, he passed her what he had got, which was a plain chocolate chip cookie. Scorpius watched with great amusement as she consumed the thing in less than a minute.

"Not a word, Scorpius," she warns, licking the last crumbs off of her fingers. He smirks, but refuses to say anything.

She's pretty lucky, huh?

* * *

"I love you, Scorpius Malfoy." This time, she doesn't say it blunderingly in front of her parents, but while they are alone on their couch. He was reading the Prophet, she had been scanning a Ministry brief for her job, and with the way the golden afternoon was going, she felt she needed to let it be known. She _wanted_ him to know that she loved him.

She had for quite a while, really.

Slowly, he set down the printed pages and pulled her head forwards, his hands coming to rest on either side of her face.

"I love you, too." It was simple, utterly uncomplicated, and rather grand, all at the same time. There is a certain beauty to the silence, to timeless, captured hours, after all, and they must be treasured.

So they remained in a little bubble away from the world, having a normal day that was really quite extraordinary in hindsight. Golden days always are.

But hey, they're Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. Dating was never going to change any of that.

* * *

 **Hi there, readers.**

 **First of all, I'm sorry this took forever and a day to release. I've had so much stuff to do with summer ending and new fics and a blog and my family and . . . well, you get the picture. Writing this was just an incredibly lengthy, annoying process, but if you're reading this, then you know that it's done now. Also, I caught a really bad cold for about two weeks and I had 12 DIFFERENT UNIT TESTS.**

 **I'M NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING.**

 **Maintaining straight As has never been more strenuous.**

 **All I'm saying is that I deserve a break.**

 **UGGGGHHGGHGGHGGHHG.**

 **But, in other news, expect the next chapter to arrive in another month or two; I know that this one was a lot closer to the end of that time frame and for that I'm sorry, but the next one, if you ignore the problems school causes, should be out a lot sooner. It's probably going to be the shortest chapter in the five, like I said above, and then will come the longer one again (I'm getting sore hands just thinking about it).**

 **If you just happened to stumble upon this story randomly, please remember to favorite, follow, and review it. Also, please take a look at some of my other more recent stories; I did a decent Scorose oneshot a while back, some Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a few Miraculous Ladybug oneshots, and a lot more. Apparently I have too much free time on my hands.**

 **Hopefully I'm going to continue launching a new multi-chapter Star Vs the Forces of Evil 1800s AU, which will (hopefully) turn out pretty good. I can't wait to write that out to completion; I already have names for their kids and have started to ship the future generations that I made up. Is that weird, or . . .**

 **I have a problem.**

 **Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read my stories and to look at this. Validation encourages me to write quicker, so please continue to be amazing in the comments section; it was nice to see how well this was received.**

 **Bye, then! Time to begin on the next chapter.**


	5. Engaged

**Hi again. I'm not dead, surprisingly.**

 **It's been a long six months for me emotionally and physically and I am constantly exhausted and I barely got any time to write this. I honestly didn't even look at this document for the first two weeks because I was so relieved I didn't have any big writing projects that needed addressed immediately.**

 **I'm a good author. Totally.**

 **I guess when it all boils down, I can say that I tried. I'm not a quitter, but I didn't say anything about procrastination.**

 **Anyways, I'm pretty proud of how this story has turned out so far. I didn't anticipate the chapters being so big. I also thought that it would get more attention than it did, but I'm very grateful to the people who have continued to leave such positive reviews and who have followed and favorited this fanfic. It means a lot to me - I look at the reviews on my stories on bad days. Silly, but true. You all have no idea how much it helps knowing that there is someone on your side who believes in you even in your worst moments.**

 **Little things, really, but sometimes it makes all the difference in the world. Thanks for that.**

 **But going back on track, here is the next chapter of Transitions, obviously. This one, if you haven't figured it out (I honestly can't remember if I told you guys or not in the end note of the last segment) is called Engaged.**

 **I bet you'll never guess what's going to happen (hint hint, wink wink, smile).**

 **This is going to be around the same length as the first installment, which is about 10k. Short, really, in comparison to the others, but it's the shortest transitional phase. Unless we're thinking about the Office, in which poor Pam is engaged for nearly three years to a guy she doesn't even end up with.**

 **But yeah. That's not going to happen here - I like Scorpius and Rose too much to let that happen. I'm really glad people have liked this story so far and I hope they continue to enjoy the fic. Sorry sorry sorry again for making you wait for so long.**

 **Now I've talked for about five years, so let the story begin, I guess!**

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy was never a reckless, throw-caution-to-the-wind type of child. That was James Potter, who was loud and boisterous and utterly unapologetic about his boldness. That was Albus, without his rare moments of moodiness and his penchant for doing first and thinking later. That might have even been his father as a teenager, when Draco was slowly drowning in expectations and petty fights throughout all of his schooling and ended up making rash, severe life choices.

But this was never Scorpius. This was never Rose.

Because Rose was simply Rose in that she enjoyed long, strenuous preparation, contingency plans, escape routes. She loved fiercely and freely, but to gain her absolute trust and devotion took years of carefully stepping past her defenses, building something permanent in her life. He liked to think he had asserted his position rather firmly so far. Knowing somebody for over ten years tends to to that.

Still, they were not the types to rush into things, no matter how much they loved eachother. This was just not done, and their families both needed time to grow used to the concept of a Weasley and a Malfoy being a couple, particularly Scorpius' more conservative members; Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were not exactly fond of this turn of events, even if they had greatly mellowed out following the aftermath of the great war and their subsequent trip to prison for ten years. They never breathed a word about their relationship badly, and he knew they were trying, but they always appeared _uncomfortable_ when Rose partook in family dinners or attended parties with him. And them _living together_ went over about as well as one might expect from two incredibly reserved people from a bygone era of arranged marriages. However, after three years they had more or less resigned themselves that Rose Weasley was a fixture, and really, it could have been a lot worse.

And so a year slipped by in which they dated. Then another. Then another.

Five years disappeared in wisps of smoke and good memories, lazy days out on the porch, movie nights, and golden afternoons. Rose was happy, Scorpius was happy, and so there seemed no reason to change.

It never occurred to him that maybe engagement was the way to go. That perhaps proving to everyone that they were ready for such a big step again would be for the best.

Regardless of all that, though, this was how they went from merely dating to fiances.

* * *

It's Al's wedding that actually prompts him to _do_ something, though.

"This is real, right? This isn't some sort of dream?" Albus states at rapid fire speed, pacing back and forth in a cramped room within the Burrow. Scorpius wouldn't exactly say he was getting cold feet - quite the opposite, he was so worried about _Penny_ getting cold feet after being engaged for so long that he was about to run himself into the ground with lingering doubts. "Merlin, I'm going to wake up as a fifteen year old again and realize that I've dreamt up my entire adult life! She probably doesn't even know I exist! Why would she be marrying _me_? Scorpius, I get nervous playing professional quidditch some days, and that's my _job_." The Potter freezes suddenly, white as a sheet. "I'm not even on the Hogwarts quidditch team at fifteen yet! What am I doing?"

"Okay, someone's becoming a bit paranoid." It would be a bit concerning, Al's panic attack, if it wasn't so bloody funny to watch. "Pen loves you. Say that."

"She loves me."

"You're going to marry her in half an hour," the blonde says patiently, putting firm hands on Albus' shoulders.

"I . . . " There is an audible waver, a slip of absolute terror. "I am going to marry her in half an hour."

"You two are going to be happy."

"We're going to be happy." This part, though, was managed with absolute certainty.

"You are going to be living in disgustingly sappy romantic bliss." Albus frowns, there.

"Scorpius, _why_?" he moans, cupping his head into his hands. "And to think you were actually helping up until then."

"It's true," the slytherin defends, crossing his arms with a grin. "You and Pen are practically married already, with the way you interact. It's almost sickeningly cute, most days."

"Like you and my cousin - and damn, that was not an image I needed _right before my wedding_ \- are much better."

"Please, Al, we can control ourselves," Scorpius remarked, rolling his eyes. "I think that's just the nerves rattling what little is left of your brain."

"Well when _you_ all decide to get married, feel free to rag on me all you want. For now, stop acting deliriously happy in preparation for your own wedding and help me calm down for mine." With a groan, Albus pulled at his collar. "God, this suit chafes absolutely _everywhere_. It probably hasn't been worn since my father's marriage."

"Who said anything about me and Rose getting married, Al?" It's a strange inquisition, but he's curious is all.

"Obviously I didn't mean to assume that your date has been set yet or anything, but I figured that it would be pretty soon. You've been dating for five years is all."

"Us? Engaged?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, we all thought that it had just slipped your mind to tell us, what with all the recent excitement," the dark haired boy amended, sitting down. Briefly, he looked up and stopped wallowing in concerns long enough to take in Scorpius' odd expression. "You did ask her to marry you, right?" There is a relatively long lull in conversation.

" . . . When you say 'ask', you mean explicitly, right?"

Again, for the longest time, nothing is said. And then:

"BLOODY HELL, SCORPIUS!" Albus cries out, jumping to his feet with extreme annoyance. "YOU MEAN YOU STILL HAVEN'T MUSTERED THE COURAGE TO ASK HER?! YOU'VE BEEN AFTER HER SINCE _HOGWARTS!_ "

"I never really thought about it!"

"BUT YOU'VE DATED FOR _FIVE YEARS_ , HOW HAVE YOU NOT THOUGHT ABOUT IT?!"

"We've always just . . . done our thing. And then you guys started traveling for a year, and James and Claire got engaged, and - "

"FIVE YEARS, SCORPIUS! _FIVE. YEARS._ " He presses a finger to Scorpius' chest each time for emphasis. The blonde supposes the point has been made.

"I'll admit, it sounds pretty bad when you say it like that." Albus' face is bright red, his chest heaving with disbelief. "Al, are you alright? You can't collapse on me now - you're needed out there." He shakes his head, sighing.

"I just . . . my best friends are the two most oblivious people on earth, aren't they?" The question is directed at no one, and yet, Scorpius felt awkward already. "You need to propose. Like, soon. Before the rest of us blow any more blood vessels waiting."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know, just do whatever. Knowing Rose, she won't care unless you screw up irredeemably."

"Thanks for that advise then, I guess. Very specific."

"Sod off. I can't believe _you're_ my best man." Scorpius couldn't help but smirk at that. Technically he had split the position with James, but for all intents and purposes he held the title. James helped with organizing some of the more . . . well, he took immense pleasure in hosting the bachelor party, for starters. He had handled a lot of set up and Scorpius had lent a hand with organization and ordering, mainly because Penny, having no siblings, had chosen Rose as her maid of honor. This meant that Rose had been sitting up with Pen on the phone, groaning at her computer and banging her head against the keyboard, and Scorpius had needed to step in multiple times. As a result, he had ordered decorations, oversaw suit fittings with Al, tasted the catering as a second opinion, and was shuffled a lot of responsibilities he really shouldn't have had to deal with.

He'd _earned_ the title of best man.

"Oh, good, you're acknowledging that I'm still the best man. For your wedding. Which is happening in a little over _twenty minutes_ now." Just like that, Albus is back in the throws of anxiety again.

"Dammit, Scorpius, what if I completely fumble on my lines?"

"We've gone over them fifty times already, but frankly I'm just grateful that your panic afforded me a subject change."

"Huh?"

"I mean, we can go over them again before the wedding if you're that stressed out, but I'm sure it's going to be fine."

"Okay, okay, okay, let's do one more run through."

They end up doing three, but it gives Scorpius less time to think about _other_ things. Like, to take a random example, proposals.

The ceremony is beautiful, and Al, to the shock of nobody, ends up doing absolutely fine.

The venue afterwards, though, is far more interesting.

"Why aren't you and An being swarmed by guys, Lily?" Rose asks curiously about halfway through.

"Oh, we finally said we were a gay couple, making this big show of revealing our 'secret relationship', and everyone left us alone after that," the redhead responded with a grin, her emerald eyes bright. "Fake tears were shed. An nearly draped herself over me in a fit of wonderful acting. Rather brilliant, I'd say."

"And that worked?"

"Oh yeah," she said, smirking with pride. "It's _obviously_ not true, but people will believe anything when you bat your eyelashes at them and make up some terrible pet names."

" . . . I'm a little scared."

"Trust me, it's great. Miranda tries not to snort with laughter every time I call her my smoochikins." Rose burst out into a fit of furious giggles after that was uttered, and Scorpius couldn't help but crack a smile as well.

"Smoochikins?"

"Hey, we already established that it works, alright?" And sadly enough, it did.

How humanity has fallen.

It turned out his girlfriend is also incredibly relieved that she doesn't have to wear the infamous 'heels from hell'; Penny allowed all of her bridesmaids to dress in casual white sundresses and flats, much to the insistence of Rose herself.

"I can actually walk this time!" she laughed vigorously, eyes bright and full of excitement. "Isn't it great?"

"Wonderful, Rosie, but you look a little maniacal right now. Al and Pen are about to have their first dance and it would be nice if you didn't screech with joy through all of it." As it was, people were starting to give them strange glances.

"Oh, _you_ didn't have to endure the last shoes. If you had, you'd understand my unfathomable happiness."

"I'm sure I would. Now sit."

"Yes _mom_ ," she snorted, flopping down at a table with her boyfriend. Scorpius rolled his eyes and pulled an arm around her shoulder, and as per usual, she leaned her head back against him and sighed. Though they were near the corner of the tent the wedding was taking place in, they still had a relatively clear view of the procession. Albus was smiling like he'd just won the lottery, and Pen was tucked securely in his grasp, laughing. "They seem really happy, huh?"

"Yeah," he responded, briefly flashing back to the days in Hogwarts when the Potter would stare aimlessly at Penny. "He's come a long way. They both have."

"I'm really glad that they're together," she continued. "Maybe someday we'll have something like that." Right as she says that, his heart clenches in his chest and his back straightens out.

"What? That relationship, or - "

"Scorpius, why would I ever envy Al's relationship? I think we've got a pretty good thing going that doesn't include my cousin." With a smirk, the redhead turned around to face him and kept talking. "But, you know, if there's something left to be desired, maybe you should tell Al how you really feel. Before he has kids and - "

"No, no, I'm in no way interested in your very male, very married cousin who happened to be my best friend for over ten years," the slytherin interrupted, running a hand through his hair. "Bloody hell, Ro, why would you want to give me that mental picture?"

"Because I'm Rose Weasley and you're Scorpius Malfoy and it's how we love?" She accented this with her most dazzling smile, the type that sets his insides on fire, and despite the long term status of their dating experience he couldn't help but grow red in the face.

"You're terrible."

"Insufferable, actually, but I think you've managed me pretty well so far."

"Hmmmm, so you admit it?"

"Of course. But I'm also dating you, so there's only so much that you can do to me, Scorpius. I'll escape repercussions." At this, she fell silent once more, and he had to clear his throat and prompt her to finish up her earlier thought. The task felt like the equivalent of, as muggles put it, pulling teeth.

"So, what did you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"By the 'maybe we'll have something like that' comment. It was a little vague is all," the slytherin clarified, words casual and not betraying his interest.

"Oh, I just meant the wedding. It turned out really nice, huh?" she answered plainly, turning back towards their friends. Rose grinned again. "Who knew Al could dance, right?"

"Right." Scorpius, for once, couldn't think up a witty response.

He never really thought about marriage with Rose. He always assumed that they _would_ get married, some fuzzy and distant day in the future, but it was never something he pondered with intensity or detail. They were simply an item, inseparable, and that wasn't going to change.

But the idea that _Rose_ might have thought about marriage - that she might want to get married sometime soon - was a horrifying one. It was horrifying because it would have meant that he dropped the ball in their relationship, that he might have missed whatever subtle signs that were thrown his way. She's _Rose Weasley_ , and he couldn't expect her to wait forever.

Albus had a point. He should have proposed.

Scorpius _needs_ to propose, and soon. The last thing he wants to do is leave his girlfriend hanging.

"Scorpius? Are you all right?" the redhead questioned, appearing concerned. "You started starring off into oblivion. Hopefully the futility of life didn't hit you in a wave of existentialism."

"No, merely the concern facing James and Claire," he lied smoothly, taking her hand and brushing his thumb across her knuckles. "I mean, they _just_ got engaged about eight months ago, and here are Al and Pen, already husband and wife. They're dragging their feet."

"We all knew they would. They're stubborn as all get out," Rose groaned, exasperation leaking into her features. "It didn't exactly help that the idiot proposed spur of the moment during a heated argument. He should know better."

"James should know better, but you forget that he's a Potter. Like Al, no matter how charming he is, he's criminally oblivious to matters of the heart. There's no common sense there."

"Common sense has little to do with love, though."

"If it did, I know for a fact that your friend Pen would have never fallen for your cousin." Rose was making a visible, concerted effort not to burst out laughing.

"Albus is our best friend; surely he had some good points going for him." The blonde cocked an eyebrow.

"Name five."

"He's . . . kind, caring - "

"Darling, you just described someone's mom. Try harder." She shot him a glare, though it lacked the vicious bite it should have possessed.

"He has a stable job - "

"He didn't when they met in school."

"Al was on the quidditch team, though, when they started dating," she mused, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Good point."

"Um . . . he's loyal. He's never going to leave Penny, and if he did, we'd all hunt him down."

"Is he a dog?"

"He's a bit of a lost puppy around her." At this, Scorpius had to grin.

"True, that."

"Lastly, he's Albus."

" . . . Is that a plus?"

"It's most definitely a plus," she declared, burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm tired. Did I do alright?"

"I couldn't name three right now, to be honest, so that's pretty phenomenal to me, Rosie," Scorpius murmured, absentmindedly tracing circles along her arm.

When did he start doing that?

. . . It probably didn't matter.

"Not that, as the best bridesmaid thing," she huffed, her breath fanning out against the top of his tie. "Maid of Honor or whatever."

"Wonderful, as always," Scorpius reassured with a smile. She couldn't see it, of course, with her body tucked neatly between his arms, but it was the sentiment that counted, right? "You really are tired, huh?"

"Happy for them, but exhausted." Another sigh was released, and the gryffindor yawned at her boyfriend's side. "Such a pretty wedding, though."

"Yeah. Beautiful."

He needed to get his act together and propose.

Imminently.

* * *

"Ring shopping? Really?" Albus asks incredulously, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, so?"

"I got married _two bloody weeks ago_ , Scorpius, don't you think it's a little early to start getting me involved in weddings again?" he remarked, scowling magnificently. "Let the honeymoon phase wear off, at least."

"Oh, please. You're not even having a honeymoon as it is, Al," Scorpius refutes, cracking open a bottle of fire whiskey. He hadn't meant to ask (beg) his best mate to help him select a ring during their mandatory 'boy's night', as Rose so affectionately referred to it, but then he took a look at the gold band around the Potter's finger and the words sorta just fell out of his mouth.

And, yeah. This was long overdue.

"We don't need to travel anywhere. We did more than enough traveling when we were engaged. You know, like you should be."

"I'm trying to _get_ engaged, thank you very much, Al. And I would very much like it if my best friend came along to the store with me because I have no idea what I'm looking for and I'm bloody _terrified._ " The Potter stared at him for a moment, blank faced.

"You're a complete wanker, you know that?"

"Well, would you rather I pick James to be best man?"

"James?" Albus repeated in astonishment. " _James_ James? My brother? Instead of me?"

"I'd prefer you, naturally, because I want the bloke I went through more than half my life with to go with me through this, but if you're declining the position . . ."

"Of course I'll do it, you sod, I'm just . . . surprised, is all. I feel like I'm still fifteen and now I'm married and James is engaged and you're going to ask my cousin to marry you. It's all a bit sudden, you know."

"There's nobody I'd rather have walking me through this," Scorpius said earnestly, putting a hand on Al's shoulder. "And merlin, I'm glad you're my best friend."

"Yeah, yeah," the slytherin grumbled, but he allowed his complaints to lapse into a caving silence.

" . . . So, ring shopping?"

Albus groaned again.

* * *

"This one?"

"Does Ro strike you as the type to want a diamond the size of London on her finger?"

"That's a no, then."

"God, you are hopeless, Scorpius."

" . . . Wait, but that one - "

"Comes with an engraving that says 'you're so bright you light up my world'. It's a definite no."

"Right, didn't see that. Rose would have sent me back to the shop, honestly."

"How is it possible that you can be so put together in everyday life and then loose absolutely all common sense when we walk into a jewelry store?"

"I don't know," Scorpius sighed helplessly. "I knew exactly what I wanted to get her and then it all left my mind. It's like some really case sensitive amnesia."

"Merlin, no wonder you wanted my help. We're going to be here all day, aren't we?" The slytherin scoffed in mock offense.

"Like you expected anything different, Al."

"I swear, if you weren't my best friend . . . "

Hours later, Scorpius was slipping a small black box into his pocket, the velvet soft against the lining.

"We're never doing that again," the Potter proclaimed, his face pale and his hair ruffled. "I think that this was the longest day of my life. Even more agonizing than finals in Hogwarts."

"With any luck, I'll only have to do this once," he hummed, smiling widely. "Once."

"Don't mess this up," Al warned, grabbing his arm. "I love you, mate, but Rosie is family. She's my cousin. She's my wife's best friend. She's one of _my_ best friends. I don't want to see either of you hurt, but if this falls through, we have to stand with her." Scorpius blinked.

"Is this the concerned father speech?"

"My uncle isn't around to do it, so yes."

"Then I'm telling you now, I have no intentions to screw this thing up. I'd loose my mind if I lost Ro." Albus clamped him on the back.

"That's the spirit. Glad that's settled, then." They walked down the street, talking and snorting and simply being together like only Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy can be.

The item in his pocket, though small and simple, is impossibly hard to forget about.

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy considered himself a creative enough person. He was clever, inventive, and was quite good at his job as an auror, in his honest opinion - but this? Proposals? Asking Rose, the most important girl in his life, to marry him?

AhhHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhHHHHHHh.

Not good.

Not good at all.

In fact, he was downright idea-less on how to propose to his girlfriend. They had simply been together for so long - had gotten so comfortable being with eachother - that he had almost forgotten how to do things without including her in the process.

Ordering takeout? Rose always wants a number two, so he always remembers to ask for it regardless of whatever they're doing - with extra sauce and no asparagus. Rose hates asparagus.

Going to bed? Rose always complained she was freezing at night, so he made sure to sleep on his side, far from the vent, so she could sleep next to the warm air and tuck herself into his arms when she came upstairs.

Walking to the grocery store? Rose often grabbed his hand on impulse, so he learned to never stick his right palm into his jacket, even when it was freezing or he was alone. The habit had been ground into him at an early stage in their romantic relationship.

Frankly, every single part of his life already revolved around her, and more than anything, he wanted to ask for her opinion when planning this. However, this was the one scheme he had to execute on his own since they moved in together, and he was absolutely lost when it came to heartfelt speeches and grand gestures.

He loved her, of course. But his redhead had never been one for fancy dinners and perfect dates, which he had been grateful for. Now, though, he had to recreate just that.

How did Al work up the nerve to propose, anyhow? And in front of everyone, too.

Really, perhaps Albus Severus Potter deserved more credit in the relationship department. That sort of bravery was astounding.

"What should I be doing?" Scorpius groans, looking at the ground. "Al, I don't get it. Proposals are impossible."

"We've been managing for hundreds of years before your unfortunate dilemma, I'm afraid," Albus noted dryly. "Bloody hell, you're a mess. I thought you were a macho auror and all that jazz."

"I am. Just not when it comes to this."

"This isn't hard. You can just go the cliche route and take her out to dinner or something. Then, viola, romantic atmosphere and proposal. It's what happens in every single muggle romance I've ever seen." The Potter's disinterest or lack of general panic was starting to grate on his last nerves.

"Does Rose strike you as the type to enjoy a fancy sit down dinner at a high end restaurant? You're implying a reality in which she would assume it's not a joke or a conspiracy." Albus ruminated on that thought for a second.

"No, you've made your point. You may have a problem after all." Scorpius bit back a scowl of hopelessness and annoyance.

"You're not helping. At all."

"Hey, at least I took care of my own proposal. Without consulting anyone for outside help, I might add." The slytherin graduate almost sounded proud. It was incredibly maddening.

"So clever," he grumbled, crossing his arms. "Yes, you are married. Good job. Now just shut up and let _me_ get married." Albus drew silent, trying to find a suitable idea.

"Have you even run this past her dad, mate?" he finally stated, rubbing the back of his neck. "Because that's the first thing I would do. Uncle Ron is kind of terrifying when it comes to protecting Rosie. You know, his first child, only daughter, schoolwork prodigy, smart-as-a-whip." Scorpius turned white as a sheet. "Wait, you really haven't consulted her dad? Have you _met_ Ron Weasley?"

"I was going to, I just . . . I don't know, I haven't . . ." he put his head in his hands, moaning. "Bloody hell, Albus. I don't just have to propose to Ro, I also have to run it past her dad."

"Her mom will want to know, too, if she has anything to do with it. Hermione Granger likes to be kept in the loop."

"That . . . that's not helping. Again. I'm seriously about to drown in hopelessness now."

"Think on the bright side, mate," the dark haired man said, shrugging in a sympathetic fashion. "Maybe they'll have some good ways to propose. And, at least then the hard part will be over, aside from the actual planning and the ceremony and the invitations and - "

"Please stop talking."

So.

Scorpius Malfoy was going to have to pop in on _Ron Weasley_ and explain that he was going to marry Rose.

This was going to go marvelously.

* * *

"You want to what?" the man remarked, staring at him so fiercely that Scorpius was certain there was a hole burned into his forehead.

"Marry your daughter," he repeated. Again.

Ron Weasley put fisted his left hand and rested it over his mouth.

"Sorry, just run that by me again, will you?" the auburn haired man stated, trying his damnedest not to get out of his chair and get right in Scorpius' face.

The Malfoy appreciated that restraint. Very much so.

"Sir, I would like to marry your daughter, Rose, since we've been dating for years and I think it's time to make things official."

Ron continued to stare, nearly looking through Scorpius. It was hardly encouraging.

"Why are you asking me?" he finally said, coming back to reality. The slytherin blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you telling _me_ about proposing instead of Rosie? She's the one who has to live with you every day," the Weasley commented, rolling his eyes. "I mean, do you have any idea what you want to do to ask her?"

That was . . . not what he had been expecting.

Ron was fiercely protective of his only daughter and eldest prodigy. He was the very definition of a father smitten with his family; he looked at his wife like she was something miraculous every single time he saw her, he absolutely adored his children, and he visited his relatives often. The Weasley clan was, quite possibly, the tightest-knit bunch he had ever seen, and Ron Weasley was no exception. He would rip anyone who dared to turn their nose up at _his_ _Rosie_ to shreds with his bare hands.

And then there was _Scorpius Malfoy_ , resident slytherin living with his daughter since Hogwarts ended, who was only just now getting around to proposing.

It didn't exactly look good, he would admit.

Scorpius was expecting a flurry of rage and 'if you break her heart I'll break your spine' and a monologue about the many ways Ron could hide a body and get away with it. Instead, though, he got the slightly exasperated reply of 'why are you telling _me_ that?'

Scorpius pinched himself.

No, still not dreaming.

"I wanted to run it by you, first. You know, just to make sure I had your approval before I decided to make Rose my fiance."

"You honestly think I don't approve of you? After dating her for, what, six years?" Ron snorted, scrubbing a hand across his face. "Bloody hell, Scorpius, I thought you were a fairly clever bloke."

" . . . So you're not going to threaten me?"

"Haven't you been threatened on my behalf already?" he shrugged, glancing at the Malfoy as though he was a ridiculous child. "I know my family. Somebody probably has."

"Well, yeah, but I thought you'd love to threaten me. It'd almost be like a bonding exercise; you could pin me down to the floor and I'd get to call you Dad." It occurred to him, about three seconds afterwards, that this is probably not the appropriate thing to say to one's future father-in-law.

Ron, however, did the unthinkable.

He smirked.

"Well, I'd hope that you care enough about Rose by now to just avoid hurting her in the first place, but it's bound to happen. People have arguments. Just don't be a complete arse to her and that's about it. I love my daughter, so don't mess this up. She likes you too much to see you walk out and not get crushed." He paused, squinting. "Was there anything else, or was that it? It's respectful and all, but kind of unnecessary. Rose would have married you even without my consent, honestly. She's very good at getting what she wants, if you haven't noticed."

"You're okay with this? No objections?"

"I mean, I had my doubts about you. When we first met, you were a teenage boy my daughter was very fond of and I didn't know you at all. And, I'm sorry, but she's _Rosie_. I have to be protective. But now, it's been a little while since then. If I didn't think you were good for her, trust me, I would have hexed you across the continent ages ago." Scorpius tries not to go into shock. Rose wouldn't be very appreciative of receiving an owl marked 'urgent, come to St. Mungo's at once'.

"Good, then," he choked out, coughing slightly. "Um, alright. Should I be going then, or . . ."

"I believe Mrs. Weasley nee Granger would also like to hear about it from you, actually. And let me tell you, out of the two of us, she's probably more likely to freak out. Mothers are like that."

Ah. It's never this easy.

That's slightly relieving, actually. He was starting to think he was delusional.

"Yeah, I'll just . . . I should go do that." The slytherin reaches out to shake Ron's hand. "Thanks. For, you know, not killing me."

"Hermione will do that for me," the auburn haired man said, taking the offer. "Good luck."

"You too."

Well. That was . . . surprisingly okay.

* * *

He comes back with crushed ribs, as Hermione Weasley squeezed him so hard he's fairly certain his spinal column and major organs won't ever be the same.

Rose, of course, asks him why he looks so bloody _happy_ when he's clearly about to double over. The slytherin tells her it's because she's there.

Surprisingly, this works, as she takes it as a joke and shoves him with a smirk.

He thinks about the box he's now hidden in his sock drawer and smiles a little wider.

* * *

He cooks for her and figures this would be as good a time as any to propose. They've got a nice meal, they're alone, and there are even bloody _candles_ lit in the background. The box is burning a pleasant hole in his pocket.

It should be easy, right?

And then her _mother_ arrives, tears in her eyes, choking up while saying that the family owl of the last twenty years has finally kicked the metaphorical bucket. This, mind you, was the new owl that Rosie and Hugo had named as children, played games with, and had grown accustomed to seeing over the last two decades. Being the animal-loving sort that she was and beginning the grieving process for Barney the barn owl, both mother and daughter broke down in a heap on the living room floor.

He understands. Scorpius would do anything to make Rose feel better.

But, really, _now_? Just before he's going to propose?

There's some sort of celestial power doubling over right now, laughing at Scorpius.

He knows it. He _knows_.

As she leaves an hour later, Hermione Granger pulls back her hair and swipes at her red eyes again.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she tells them, unintentionally adding insult to injury. The slytherin tries not to wince. "I just . . . it seems like we've had Barney forever. He was like our family pet. And I remember when you and Hugo saw him home, how your eyes got all _wide_ and you _smiled_ and . . ." She sniffles again, and Rose follows suit. "I don't know. I just wanted to see you again, Rosie. I'm really sorry to tell you about that."

"No, Mom, I'm happy you did. Barney was a part of the family," she agreed, blowing her nose again. "Please, really, just rest up when you get home. Spend some time with Dad and try to take it easy for once."

"Should I? I'm being silly. We've got important things to do and - "

"Mom, promise me you won't be too hard on yourself," Rose said seriously. "Don't feel stupid for being sad. It happens. I'm bloody depressed myself." Slowly, Hermione nodded, and with one last hug she disappeared into the flames of the fireplace. Rose turned to Scorpius, shoving her face into his shoulder.

"I feel miserable." Her words came out muffled and delicate, as if she were made of porcelain. "I'm sorry that we ruined whatever tonight was."

Ha. Well.

No proposals _now_ , then.

"It's alright, Ro, you're alright," he tells her, running a hand across her back. "C'mon, let's go watch some crap telly and get horribly drunk. You've got an old owl to mourn."

"He had several years of life ahead of him. It's a tragedy, Scorpius."

"Yes, I know Barney will be missed." He begins to lead her up the stairs, grabbing a bottle of wine on the way up.

"A _tragedy_ , Scorpius. He was too young to die."

"I'll bet." He settles into their bed, arms tucked around her, and listens to his slightly tipsy girlfriend as she recounts the many thrilling adventures she had with the family barn owl. Most, unsurprisingly, were mail related.

He loves her a little too much.

He wonders when he'll be able to tell her that.

* * *

The next attempt is marginally better, mainly due to the lack of fatalities.

It's just -

Ugh. _Lily_.

Scorpius loves Lily. She's practically a sister, after all these years of knowing her.

But he still wants to strangle her for ruining his proposal.

He and Ro are about to head out on a stroll down the street. It's nothing special. It's just that it's autumn now, and all the leaves are turning colors and the lighting is good and maybe he's spent nine hours the night before creating a charm that will rain gold sparkles down through the trees.

You know. Hypothetically.

He's certain that this will be perfect. He's carefully molded the atmosphere to his advantage and has rehearsed a script. Scorpius has even freaking prepared the way he's going to present the ring box, for merlin's sake. He's _ready._

So, naturally, as they're heading out, Rose remarking on what a nice day it is and how lovely the weather is, as planned, Lily has to apparate out of the sky, almost crushing the two.

"Ro! Scorpius!" she squealed, flinging arms around the couple. Her eyes gleamed dangerously bright, like human light bulbs. "Guess who just won an all-expenses paid cruise!" She clutched her cousin's hands so hard it was a miracle they didn't snap beneath the pressure. "This witch!" Soon Rose is screaming and laughing and freaking out, right alongside her younger gryffindor, and Scorpius is just fading into the background. "Ro, we've got to celebrate! I can take along five friends, so we're going on a girl's trip!"

No. No no _no_ no no.

 _This isn't happening_ , he thinks, wanting to curl up and die. _Not again. This was supposed to be it. This isn't happening this way._

But then Rose is busy talking about Lily and summer plans ("Bloody hell, do I even have a swimsuit? And I burn really easily - I'll be a tomato. What clothes do you think I need? Summer dresses should come along too, right? Shoot, we'll need to go shopping again for everything. And pocket money for souvenirs is very important, you know. I have no idea what I'd get anybody, though. Would a max of twenty pounds each for everyone's gifts seem reasonable, Scorpius?" "Ro, I love you, but this isn't for another eight months. Calm down.") and she just looks so _happy_ , so _excited_ , that anything else would just register as an afterthought.

His proposal has just been eclipsed by a cruise ship. The slytherin has been upstaged by Lily Potter and some Caribbean tickets.

As Rose is no longer going to be taking a walk, he guides her back inside the house and they chat with her cousin some more, eventually letting the conversation eat into dinner, where they order takeout for three and watch movies.

It's not a bad day. It's just that now he has to reconfigure his plans.

 _Again_.

* * *

He tries going to the Three Broomsticks, figuring it contained many pleasant Hogwarts memories and would probably be an apt place to propose. Scorpius orders some butter beers and Rose is having a good time and everything is going fairly well.

He's going to do it this time.

He is. Really.

Their booth is dimly lit, secluded, and they're both warm and stuffed and content. It's pretty bloody perfect, all things considered.

And this, of course, is when it is revealed that the last drink Rosie had been given was spiked with booze and delivered to the wrong table, and her non-alcoholic beverage was mistakenly given to a young woman a table away.

This is understandable. They look virtually identical.

Still. _Still_. This is the third time something has gone wrong. _The third time_.

Merlin, it shouldn't be this difficult.

Given the amount of food she's ingested and the way she finished off her apparently toxic drink, she promptly turns green before he's about to pull out the box and she runs to the women's room.

She's there for a while. There's an awful lot of horrid retching.

Scorpius wishes he could go in after his girlfriend, but it's the witches' restroom, and he'd be chewed out not only by his mortified partner, but by the owner, the staff, and any disgruntled customers trying to relieve themselves. Instead of braving the storm, he waits patiently outside, already having paid for the meal. He's conjured up some medicine for her stomach and some sleep inducers, and in the end, that's about all he can do other than occasionally ask her through the doors if she's dying or not.

"Just my pride, confidence, and self esteem," she'd reply weakly, trying and failing to chuckle and pass it off as a bad joke. "Oh, never mind, there goes self respect, too. Darn. At least it wasn't ego - that's about all that's left, and it's all tiny and shriveled up, anyhow. There's barely anything left to flush away." He sighs and smiles in relief each time; her depreciating humor was still in tact, if not her internal organs.

It's one of the worst sessions she's ever endured, he can tell, and it's safe to say that popping the question is out of the picture for tonight.

Frankly, as long as she's still living after this, he'd be a happy man.

* * *

Proposal four is terrible. It involves shattered wine glasses, assorted screaming, and the movies.

It's bad. Like, really really bad. Scorpius would love to erase that night from his memory forever.

Suffice to say, he never gets around to pulling out the ring box. He had flashbacks and nightmares for the next several weeks afterwards.

It almost makes the previous attempt seem alright.

* * *

Fifth time is the charm.

That's how the saying goes, right?

. . . Apparently not.

It's supposed to be a concert to some muggle music singer Rosie enjoyed on her computer. He presented her the tickets to an event hosting Dodie Clark, whoever she happened to be, on her birthday a few months in advance. And since the concert date came around, and they'd be going alone . . . well. It seemed alright. A decent idea.

What he'd failed to consider was that concerts were loud. Really, really loud. There's the musician, who was actually pretty alright, and her entourage of instrumentalists. Then there are the fans, who were constantly singing along or screaming their praise or obnoxiously trying to get the performer to notice them.

No matter who is the main act, concerts are madhouses.

"Having a good time, Ro?" he tries to ask, once, during what appeared to be a more popular piece. Rose, still grinning widely, looked at him.

"WHAT?!"

"Are you HAVING a GOOD TIME, Ro?" he tried again, enunciating certain words.

"WHAT?!"

"HAVING A GOOD TIME?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS! PRETTY GREAT SHOW, THOUGH, RIGHT?!"

This was the first and last time he attempted to make contact with her during the rest of the concert. Afterwards, when the event ended, Rosie was still reeling. It was late at night, and they apparated back without a problem. They curled up on the couch as she babbled about the singer.

"Dodie was even better than I thought she would be! She's got such a talent for songwriting and I love her lyrics, and all the little personal touches she added to each number were beautiful. Her _voice_ , though, was very clear. And _pretty_ , right? I wish I sounded like that. Bloody hell, I sound like a dying bird when I try to sing for too long. But her? Brilliant. The whole performance. I mean, I'm exhausted now, but it was worth it. I think I'm going to sleep for a week." He smiles, slightly winded just hearing her talk.

"So I take it you enjoyed it, Ro?"

"It was perfect," she yawned, curling up in his lap. "Perfect."

"Good, good," he says, gently shifting Rose's head. He slowly slipped out the tiny velvet package. "So, Ro, I need to ask you something . . ."

"Shush, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep now." The slytherin ran a hand through her hair absentmindedly.

"Right now?"

" . . . now is good," she mumbled, burrowing further into the couch, head growing heavier with each passing second. "Night, Scorpius." He smiled as her breaths slowed to gentle puffs, blowing out into the mostly empty house.

Then he remembered. This was bad.

"Rosie, c'mon," he said soothingly, gliding over her shoulders. "Ro, get up, it's important."

"I was almost asleep," she sighed in response, shifting lightly. "I wanna go to bed."

"Ro, if you could muster the energy to stay lucid for just a couple more seconds, then -" Another yawn split the space.

"Can it wait?" she answered blearily, practically falling over.

 _Merlin, I'm stupid. She's so tired she's going to pass out on top of me_ , he remarked silently, wondering why exactly he thought waiting was a good idea.

Rose is an incoherent mess when she's exhausted. He should have asked _before_ they went in.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.

So he carries her to bed, forcing her to change into actual pajamas before crashing, much to her chagrin, and he lays next to her, still awake.

He wants to marry her. It's been a good day.

What about proposing is so hard to execute?

* * *

Al and Penny are invited over, along with Miranda, Tammy, and Chase. It's a purely 'hey, female friends I like but aren't officially related to' night for Rose, and it's been going pretty good so far. Albus is fawning over Penny more so than usual, and Tammy is gushing about her business.

Over the last two years, she and Lily had opened their bakery. It was a hole-in-the-wall place, open to all magical creatures, and it was incredibly cozy and cutesy. Evidence of Lily Luna Potter's influence was _everywhere_ , from the hand-made coasters and the clean-cut blue and cream color scheme to the mason jar light fixtures and logo design. It was sweet, the type of charming local business found in small towns and quaint main streets. However, Tammy had worked hard to make this place a reality, and she had also made her marks on the bakery. The open floor plan, the extensive kitchen and high end appliances, and even the countertops spoke of her seriousness about the business and her intelligent designs for the shop.

They had actually picked up a lot of customers as time went on, and Tam was seriously considering expanding the shop and training ten new members for the staff. They were doing _very_ well, which made sense - Lily had always been great at three things, which were charms, design, and pastries. She'd been brainwashed into helping her grandmother in the kitchen at a young age, and though she wasn't the prodigy that her cousin Molly was, she was brilliant at a handful of things, and pastries almost always turned out well for her.

Tammy, on the other hand, had always loved food. She had the skills of a culinary chef, slowly cultivated from watching cooking shows with her father on the telly during weekends. She realized she was an excellent cook and took classes during the summer at eleven years old. Each year until the end of Hogwarts, she continued on. And now - well, Tammy was more than capable of running her own industry. The cunning and inventiveness that got her into slytherin house in the first place served her well in the kitchen, and many of their best selling items were made up entirely by her experimentation.

So, with all that going on, it wasn't hard to imagine that she had less time on her hands. No wonder Rose hadn't seen her in a while.

But, with that said, she just keeps talking and talking and Scorpius knows less than nothing about restaurants. This is slowly driving him insane, though Rose and the other girls seem enamored with her stories.

How did his girlfriend survive girl chat? Bloody hell, after half an hour of listening to tales from the _bakery_ of all things he's already starting down a spiral.

Finally, he excuses himself to the bathroom for a short reprieve, because though he considers Tammy a friend he's about to fall into a pit of existentialism. Albus, noticing the fellow slytherin get up, does the do diligence of a best friend and follows afterwards. The wait out in the hall bathroom together, listening through the door.

"It's going to go on forever, isn't it?" Scorpius groans, running a hand through his locks. "What's a sporf? I think she mentioned one at some point. And a chork? What on _earth_ is a chork?" Albus shrugged helplessly.

"Nobody knows. The knowledge of a cook is mysterious at best." The conversation lags. Silence sets in.

And then:

"So, did you propose yet?" It's casual as can be, and yet the Malfoy groans. Really, that's all the bespectacled boy needed to know. "Seriously? It's been three months since you got the ring."

"It's not like I haven't tried! Each time, something came up." Albus raises a haughty eyebrow.

"How many attempts have failed, then?"

"Five," he deadpans. "Five. Times. Five." Albus whistles, almost amused.

"The universe is _really_ making it hard on you, huh?" He grunts to affirm this. "Yikes. I guess spontaneity may just be the way to go after all. None of the plans seemed to work out."

"You mean, just pop the question when the time is right?"

"I mean, I guess. It's not like you've got any other bright ideas, so . . ."

"Randomness. Whenever, wherever."

" . . . Yeah. That concept isn't too hard to understand, is it?" Merlin, on the contrary. It sounded nearly perfect. He hugs Albus, right then and there, because _god_ he loves Al sometimes. There's a reason they're best friends.

"Scorpius, stop hiding in the bathroom. She's done expositing," Rose says from outside the door, jolting them out of their bubble. "You and Al better not be making out. I called him first, cousin dearest."

"Well I _saw_ him first, Rosie!" Albus eventually retorts. "I'm gonna do whatever I damn well please with him in the bathroom. You can't stop me."

"I'll fight you. Your lovely wife will fight you, too," Rosie snorted, and Scorpius could practically _hear_ her crossing her arms in defiance. Al threw an arm around the slytherin, anyhow.

"Please. For the record, Pen is -"

"I'm uncomfortable, I'm leaving," Scorpius interrupted, pushing past his best friend and closing the door behind him. His girlfriend rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek, linking his arm with hers.

"I call dibs, alright?" she said as she lured him back to the kitchen.

Scorpius rolled his eyes in response. "Trust me, you have nothing to worry about there."

"I'd hope not," the redhead replied easily, mock shuddering. "You and my cousin? Now _that_ terrifies me. It'd give children nightmares."

"And you?"

"Have I ever denied that I'm a child?"

"No, and why start now?"

She grinned. "Exactly. Now let's allow Al to cry about his abandonment in the bathroom for a little while longer and sit down again." The slytherin attempted not to groan. Rose, of course, noticed. "I know you're probably sick of hearing about the business, but just stick it out a little longer. I honestly think they're just attempting to get us to visit after the expansion. They want their friends to be there." He raised an eyebrow.

"That's all? Of course we'd stop by. Why not just ask?"

"We're girls, Scorpius," she announced expectantly, as if this information should have been obvious. "We never say what we mean. It's up to the other party to figure it out on their own. We can't be expected to do all the thinking."

"Really? You make it sound like a conspiracy."

"How do you think Hogwarts didn't collapse under Dumbledore's rule? Without McGonagall, the whole system would have buckled. And, let's be honest, without my mum, the Minister himself would be absolutely lost. It's not so much a conspiracy as it is a fact of life." And, just like that, Rose pecked him on the cheek and pulled him back into the kitchen. "Hey, everyone, what did we miss?" Tammy smiled excitedly once more.

"Oh, we were just discussing the tile colors again. For the new addition, should we continue with the old flooring, or should we redo the entire space? Because the powder blue is nice but a sparkling white may brighten up the walls. But then, for contrast, perhaps a darker finish? Or wood, Lily and I were thinking, even though it might be harder to keep clean. But oak is rather sturdy and despite the varnish we'll need to get I think that -"

"Sounds like a lot," Scorpius interjected neatly, "and it's clear that you've put a lot of time, money, and effort into this business. Rose and I will be sure to come visit and see the extension when it's completed. In fact, I'm sure the whole gang would love to drop by." And, just like that, it was as if a switch was flicked.

"Yeah, that would be nice. Hey, speaking of, did you guys hear about last night's quidditch game? Can you believe that the new seeker flew into the flag?" Pen nodded with interest. Intuitively, as if psychically sensing that the topic had shifted, Albus materialized from the bathroom at his wife's side, eager to no longer discuss kitchen utensils and design details.

Scorpius, as the others prattled on, mouthed a silent 'thank you' to his girlfriend, who merely smirked and leaned on his shoulder, humming her approval at the right times in the conversation and gasping when something particularly shocking arose.

After all these years, she still finds ways to surprise him, even when bailing his arse out.

Damn, he wishes he could propose right now.

* * *

Spontaneity has its time and place, and he doesn't necessarily know that he's picked the ideal setting for either. However, what's done is done, and he cannot hope to change it now.

Ro was laying next to him on the couch, half asleep, numbly flipping pages in a book she's not really reading anymore. She'd had a lot of ministry work the previous day, staying up late into the night, and now she was exhausted but still trying to function. It wasn't working, in all honesty, but Scorpius wasn't going to be the one to tell his significant other to go on bed rest. She'd stay up for the next week in an attempt to prove sleep wasn't a necessity.

Amber light poured into the room, creating soft glares on the windows and walls and rivulets of gold on the sofa. Rose's mane was lit up a vicious orange, vibrant and multifaceted, and the shadows she cast onto the floor pooled into darkness. White noise sounded, coupled with the occasional yowl of the neighbor's cat or the lull of wind around the house, but for the most part there was nothing. Just peace, quiet, and that warm and subtle glow, inching in ever so slowly with the afternoon sun.

Rose, with a mighty yawn, stretched and sat up, finally abandoning her book.

"Scorpius?" she asked, opting to tug at his arm. He himself had been doing a crossword from the post, and feeling ridiculously old while doing so. Crosswords were for old people, those with a freakishly extensive knowledge of the written word, muggles on boring airlines, and men like his father, who had far too much money and far too many pressing concerns over the management of said estate and wealth. And he was, what, a twenty-something-year-old doing _crosswords_ in his free time?

Well. They may be as mundane and domestic as they come, but he does them in his free time. So, there.

"Hmm?" the slytherin responds with, not even thinking as he grabbed her hand and knitted their hands together. As he glanced over at her, he saw that she was wrinkling her nose, holding out her idiotic romance novel as though she'd been betrayed. "What, is something wrong?"

"Lidia Mullins made out with Jake," she said forcefully. He blinked.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It just hit me. Lidia and Jake totally made out. But he has a girlfriend! And seriously, she could do so much better." That . . . did nothing to clear up the problem.

"Lidia?"

"Yes, Scorpius," she repeated with newfound exasperation. "Lidia, you know? Lidia Mullins. She's stupid but you just have to like her. And also I think she's going to die." The gryffindor noted all of this out loud as if it was the most natural conversation in the world. Scorpius became seriously concerned about her health.

"Ro, you know I love you, but I have no idea what's going on right now. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just say someone's going to _die_?"

The redhead nodded vigorously. "Murder, I think. Like, a chapter ago, she kissed Jake when she's clearly so perfect with Ryan and I just want to _slap this girl_. Stop trying to get back from your ex, alright? Is that too much to ask for?" She huffed and leaned back.

Ah, yes, her sleep-deprived mind had just been reading all morning. That made more sense.

He resolves to go along with it.

"Jake's a tosser," he agrees, smoothing out her hair. She grumbles unintelligibly for a little bit before turning back to him.

"Just because he's got pretty hair she's gonna get back with him! I thought Lidia was better than that." He tries not to laugh.

"I bet Ryan has nice hair, too."

"The _best_ hair," she readily supplies, yawning again. "They're going to have the cutest kids in the next book."

"Kids?"

"They're like me and you," Rose Weasley affirms, rubbing her eyes. "They were kinda stupid at the start but then they got together and they're going to make it forever, I know it. I know because he loves her and she loves him and they _get_ eachother and he always forgives her, despite all her stupid mistakes, and 'cos they're going to have kids and those kids will be cute little cherubs. Like, so cute you'll get cavities and your eyes will melt out of your brain. But my kids are going to be prettier. Or maybe just smarter. I'm hoping for both." He realizes he's staring when she starts to frown, far too tired to fully register what she's just said. "Scorpius? Are you not talking because of Jake? He's no good but I'm sure he'll be gone in a chapter."

"Marry me, Rosie," he finds himself saying, and it takes a moment to recognize the words once they come out of his mouth. The redhead is now still as a statue, somehow far more awake.

"Scorpius?" she tries to say, but it comes out as more of a whisper. The blonde shook his head.

"Just wait here a second," he tells her, dropping a kiss to her forehead and running upstairs.

(Did he shove that stupid thing in his sock drawer again? Wait, no, not after she almost saw it when he was putting away his laundry.

Not the dresser, right? Too obvious.

His coat pocket from last tuesday, but then it was in his pants on thursday, and then -)

It takes him a while to finally locate it, and when he does he's nearly laughing in relief. His hair is a mess, this shirt is wrinkled, and he could also go for a nap right about now. But she's waiting for him downstairs, and that's more than enough 'special' for one day.

"So, um, I have this," he tells her, scratching the back of his neck. "I should probably get down on one knee, huh?" She nods, incapable of speaking, and so he does. "Right. Rose, I have tried to give you this before. On about six different occasions, actually. You magically found a way to spoil each one, so here we are, in our living room, two complete disasters, and that's perfectly alright. We've never done what everybody else has, anyways." Rose laughs with him and he notices how glossy and bright her eyes are. They're always so vivid, like kaleidoscopes, but now they're focused and blurry at the same time, fracturing in the sunlight. It's kind of incredible. "You're my best friend, besides Al, and you're not going anywhere. Neither am I, and I'd very much like to spend the rest of my days annoying you. So, despite the fact that I look like a train wreck right now, we're not even wearing socks, and you're still raving about your terrible novel, will you marry me?"

She doesn't say anything for a while. And then:

"You're so, _so_ much better than Ryan," she sniffles, and then she's kissing him fiercely, lips drawn into a smile, arms wrapped around his neck, and tears dripping down her face. He can't bring himself to care.

"It's a yes?" he mentions, already knowing the answer.

"Of course it's a yes," Rose remarks, rolling her eyes while biting back a grin. "What did _you_ think?"

"That I'm the luckiest man in the world."

"You're a cheeseball," she says, giggling. Honest to god _giggling_ , like a second year girl, and in any other context it would be a terrifying thought. Rose Weasley, Head Girl, giggling.

Instead, it's rather life-affirming.

"Fortunately for me, my fiance likes those," he shrugs, slipping the ring onto her finger where it belonged. _Finally_.

"Your fiance, huh?" The gryffindor looked at the jewelry for a second, admiring the fine silver wrapped around her digit, before gazing back at him. "We're engaged."

It was finally done. He proposed without messing up too badly.

This was it. He was going to spend the rest of his life with one Rose Weasley, the girl he'd been dating for years.

He can't wait.

"Yeah, I guess we are," he tells her, and everything is right with the world.

* * *

 **So this was the update. I hope it lives up to expectations, despite being brief.**

 **I have to admit, I've really become attached to these characters despite being so late. I'm sincerely sorry for dragging out everything - time just got away from me. I've had so many finals and life issues and just pure randomness with other stories that this got pushed to the back-burner. At least for now I've got something new.**

 **The next wait will not be so long, I promise. Yes, the sheer length of the next chapter may postpone it, but you won't be left hanging for forever, I assure you. This took way more time than it should have and I apologize for the millionth time.**

 **Anyways, you can probably guess what the next chapter will be called, given the name for this one. If it lags or I get writer's block, I guess I'll just break it into two parts or something. Anything to avoid the lack of updates you saw here.**

 **Again, thanks to everyone who has read this story. I really appreciate the positive feedback and wish you all the best.**

 **Let me know if you enjoyed this in the comments or PM me with your thoughts - I love to hear them. See you guys in the next issue!**


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